Seven Minutes before I'm leaving
by Leonew
Summary: Remus and Tonks broke up. Tonks finds a new love pretty soon but things just don't work out for her. 'Dark' appearances and kidnapping in the later chapters. Please R&R, HBP spoilers, RLNT.
1. Through the Floor

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling ows the right of the Harry Potter books and thus all the characters and the magical world she created. Edwin Mccain ows the songtext. Only this story is mine.

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**Bathed in sunlight woke from dreams**

**Of murderous intention**

**Pursued by dogs and men and things**

**I'm just too scared to mention**

**And the first thing that I think of**

**Are her sympathetic eyes**

**That see with only positive emotion**

As he woke up, Remus felt the spot next to him in the bed was empty. He stood up quietly and walked to the kitchen of Tonks' apartment. There she was, humming softly while she was making breakfast in de bright sunlight that shone through the windows. He sneaked up behind her and just when she was grabbing an empty glass tickled her in her side. With a scream she dropped the glass.

'Don't ever do that again Remus!' she said irritated, 'Especially not when I'm in a bad mood.'

**And she talks of being grumpy,**

**But I know that grumpy's not her style**

**And I soak up all her beauty**

**'cause I'm only here awhile**

**And I muddle through my docket,**

**Nestle in the pocket**

**Just sit back and think about the world**

**And the only thing I see**

**When she's looking back at me**

**Is the promise of how life could be**

'You're grumpy? Why's that?' he asked surprised.

'Never mind, just some stupid mount of paperwork to do.' Tonks sighed.

Remus observed her as she put the plates and glasses down on the table. She looked up.

'What?' she asked, a slight smile crossing her face.

'Nothing.' he answered quickly.

'Okay… What you're writing there anyway?'

'Nothing.' He answered again.

'Fine, then don't tell me!' she snapped as she threw away the burnt eggs.

**And as I wrote my chest got tight for her**

**I know that I'm not right for her**

**And I couldn't live**

**If I ever caused her pain**

**But at least I have a message**

**That I can leave**

**That tells her of this spin inside**

**My gears turning,**

**I'm still learning to trust myself**

**But at least I've told her**

**Of this difficult good-bye**

_Dear Nympheadora,_

_You hate it when I call you that, I know._

_I'm leaving you this message as I hope you understand why I'm leaving. You should find a nice young man to be happy with instead of this dangerous old werewolf. It's going to hurt in the beginning but you should pull yourself through that. We had a wonderful time together but my conscience is beginning to bother me more and more as I drag you with me in my pathetic life. _

_You should know I'll always be there for you if you need a hand._

_Lots of love,_

_Remus_

**Seven minutes before**

**I'm leaving and now my chest is heaving**

**I just can't go like I did before**

**And tomorrow I'll be miles away and dreaming**

**That she hears my voice**

**Floating through the floor**

**(Edwin McCain - Through the Floor)**

Angrily Tonks wiped away the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. She had been sad enough about Remus now. He had proved himself inconvincible and she wasn't going to let herself break down over that. She crumpled up the letter in her hand and threw it in the bin. Then she grabbed the cup Remus had been drinking of that morning and threw it away too. She looked around for any more proof that he had been there but found none; he had taken all his possessions with him when he left.

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A/N: I might continue the story if people show interest. 


	2. The Flying Cow

Disclaimer: The world and characters of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.

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The Flying Cow was crammed with people. It was an ordinary Saturday night and people were trying to drink away the tensions and fears of the everyday life. Among the drunk and loudly chattering people a group of shady looking men and women were sitting at a table in the corner. They didn't look drunk. They were staring around attentive, some looked a bit nervous.

'Are you sure about this Fenrir?' a woman with long, dirty hair asked concerned.

A big, muscled man with grey hair growled, 'I would expect such a comment from that twister Lupin here but not from you Mahina.' He narrowed his eyes at the tense looking man next to him, 'He the one always backing out when things get rough.'

'I'm not backing out,' the Mahina defended herself, 'just worried about what might happen if Aurors show up in the middle of the fight.'

'They won't, that is if no one betrayed us…' the man called Fenrir looked distrusting around the table, to Remus Lupin in particular. 'And even if some might happen to show up they won't stand a chance against such a big group of full-grown werewolves.'

Remus Lupin was scared. He was scared of what would happen when the moon would rise. He knew that among the regular guests of the bar many Aurors were posted. Fenrir Greyback had been right about him, he had warned the Aurors Office about the attack the werewolves had planned on the crowded pub. It was not the usual strategy that Greyback had followed. Usually he preferred to bite children but they were severely protected since the last attacks. Now they were planning to transform in one of the best visited pubs of London. Lupin was forced to come with them if he didn't want to arouse anymore suspicion from Greyback. He had already been away for too long after Dumbledore died while he had spent the days at Tonks'...

'I'm not backing-out either Fenrir,' Remus told the older werewolf, 'last time was just too dangerous for me. You know I'm your only contact with the community of the normal. I had to lay low for a bit at the time as Dumbledore was suspecting me, I already told you.'

'Yeah, well Dumbledore's dead now, he won't bother you anymore.'

'Exactly.' Remus had to swallow away a lump that was forming in his throat at the thought of what happened.

At that moment a few of the people around the table sat right up. Remus felt it too, the familiar tingle that announced the transform. He himself had taken the wolfsbane potion, something Greyback would kill him for alone. Even though he had for the first time made it himself he felt already it would work. In the corner of his eyes he saw some of the pubs visitors turn their head towards them. Some of the werewolves had started groaning and others had fallen of their chairs. Remus wondered what the Aurors were waiting for. This was the moment when Fenrirs pack would be the weakest and the easiest to catch, in a few seconds it would be too late. Then, as he felt his muscles starting to twist, he saw some people starting to rise. And hell broke loose…

Tonks had asked for the job even though she knew Remus would be there. She had morphed herself in a way he wouldn't recognise her. Now she saw everything go wrong. Along with the other Aurors she was trying to get to the group of werewolves. But the crowd in the pub was panicked and difficult to get through.

Then another group of people stormed through the door. _Death Eaters! _How did they get here? Soon numerous spell were flying through the air. Tonks saw a young waitress in a black-and-white spotted skirt get hit by an avada kedavra. One short moment she was frozen by fear, then she remembered her task and made her way for the werewolves although she knew it would be too late. When she got there she saw several fully transformed werewolves attacking people. One of them however was attacking his companions, she knew it was Remus and saw with terror how he was fighting of three others. She jumped in to help but her spells didn't do much damage. She heard the crack if someone disapparating to get reinforcements. Meanwhile people where fleeing out from the pub and others died or screamed.

By the time the extra Aurors came, the pub was empty except for the werewolves, Death Eaters and Aurors attacking each other. Some of the werewolves were uncontrollably assaulting Death Eaters as well as Aurors. When they saw the reinforcements arrive the Death Eaters gave up and disapparated one by one. Still the fight was heavy for the Aurors since werewolves were hard to beat. They tried to capture most of the beasts alive but some kept fighting until the mass of spell put on them kept them down for good.

Tonks was worried one of them would accidentally hit Remus and she tried to find him in the chaos of fur. But then everything was over and the last werewolf was down.

By the time the clean-up team arrived most of the alive werewolves were carried off. Tonks had recognised Remus among them and was relieved, but didn't try to explain to the others that he wasn't supposed to be among the 'bad guys'. She was just too tired and kept reminding herself she didn't care.

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A/N: I'm so happy with my first review, thnx to **Jeh-Nee-D**. I'm hoping for more reviews of course. 


	3. Romulus, Remus and the 'Nurse'

Disclaimer: I still don't own the world (especially not St. Mungo's, the scene from this chapter), characters and all other known aspects of the Harry Potter books. That's the excelent creation of J.K. Rowling (hope that's about enough).

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'_Mum! Mum!' the small boy was puling his mother's skirt, 'Mum can I please go outside?'_

'_Oh I don't know honey. It's just been the full moon, you're still too weak and it is very cold outside.'_

'_Please mum? It never snows this far south, it'll be gone by tomorrow. Please? I want to build a snowman!' the boy wined._

'_Welll… alright then, but wear your scarf otherwise you'll catch cold.'_

_The boy ran away happily to dress himself up for the cold weather. His mother watched him go outside with a slight smile on her face. As the boy struggled to proceed through the snow he watched his younger brother play with the other kids down the street. He felt a twinge of jealousy when he saw how happy they were chasing each other and throwing snowballs through the air. One of them had a magical snowball-creator; he had managed to make a huge mount of white balls and seemed to be beating the others in their snow fight. _

_Remus knew the neighbours would never allow their children to play with him. He had managed to get used to it but still he might feel desirous every now and then, for a normal life and some friends. _

_The small boy started gathering snow for his snowman. After a while he had made a nice big ball for the lower-body. He then began with the upper-body._

'_Hey you!'_

_Remus looked up, a group of older boys was standing in front of him. One of them was holding a big snowball._

'_You want to know what my father says?' the boy asked in a teasing voice. Remus knew what was about to come, he backed away. 'He says you're a freak!'_

'_Does he tell you why?' Remus asked a bit weary, wishing he was somewhere else._

_The older boy shrugged, 'Does it matter?' he asked with an evil grin. Before Remus could back-away any further he was grabbed by one of the bigger boys, who had sneaked up behind him._

'_Hey! Stop that!' Remus' mother shouted, running out the front door. With terror the little boy saw her slip on the icy path; she fell with the shout still on her lips…_

Remus startled awake by the noise of scattering glass. He opened his eyes and tried to look around but his head was hurting badly. He heard the sound of someone shuffling around, he turned his head towards it. Near a small table on his bedside, _Bed? What was he doing in this bed, _stood a nurse. She looked shocked by the fact she had waken him. Remus managed a weak smile, she had a totally different look than in the pub but he recognised her as well as he had back there.

'Why hello there Mr. Lupin.' She said, making him smile some wider. She looked and his smile questionably, 'Are you feeling alright Mr. Lupin?' she continued the act; she probably would have fooled anyone but him.

Remus sighed, 'Yes I'm fine, thanks.'

'Well it's going to take some time for you to recover sir, you've got some nasty werewolf marks. But nothing too serious, don't you worry about that.' the 'nurse' said. 'I'm just gonna clean this up,' she gestured at the broken glass, 'and then I'll leave you to rest.' With two tries for a _reparo_she managed to repair the glass. Then she made for the door.

'Miss?' Remus called after her, she turned, 'Do you know what happened to the werewolf Greyback?'

Her expression saddened, 'We, err they never found him Mr. Lupin, I guess he managed to escape.'

Tonks closed the door of Remus' hospital room. She looked around to see if someone was coming and morphed back to her old self. Then she heard a gasp.

'Wow, you're a Metamorphmagus!' a man, who had just rounded the corner, spoke.

Tonks blinked, the man reminded her strongly of Remus, only somewhat younger and a bit less scarred.

'You're a friend of Remus?' the man asked, she nodded. 'I'm Remus' younger brother, Romulus.'

'I…I never knew Remus had a brother.' she managed.

'Well, we didn't keep in touch after our father died.' Romulus said with a sad smile.

'Oh, I'm sorry…' she saw his questioning look, 'I'm Tonks.', she offered him a hand.

He shook it, 'Very nice to meet you Tonks! Nice hair.', he continued winking.

She blushed, she had morphed it to be all the colours of the rainbow. 'Err, yeah thanks…' she stammered. It was quiet for a while. 'So, you're the other part of the twin?'

He blinked at her, 'What do you mean?'

'You know, Romulus and Remus, Europe's most famous twin, the founders of old Rome.'

He started laughing, making her blush even deeper. 'No I came later, call me Romulus Augustulus, the Exalted!'

This time it was her turn to blink. 'The last emperor of the Roman Empire.', he explained.

'Right, like that…' It was quiet again. She felt his eyes burning in hers and looked away, that stupid blush back on her cheeks.

'Do you… want to drink something down at the canteen with me?' he suddenly blurted out.

'Yeah sure, why not?' she answered with a smile. Romulus took her arm and guided her back to the elevators, leaving his wounded, long no-seen, apparently forgotten brother behind.

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A/N: Wow, I didn't even mean to write the last two chapter so quickly but ideas just kept popping inside my head and I had to write them down. Whohoo I'm going for the fourth chapter already! But meanwhile still hoping for some more reviews so (here we go): pleeeeeaaaaase review? That's it, you've got me begging (how pathetic), aw well it's worth it. 


	4. Just your Furry Family Tragedy

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognise from the books of Harry Potter.

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They sat down at a small table near the window. Tonks looked at the passing Muggles and laughed softly as she saw a girl on shoes-with-little-wheels pass by and crash into an older lady. A Japanese family was looking confused into what they saw as an old warehouse with creepy dummies and dusty clothing. One of the boys was looking straight at Tonks' face but seemed to look right through her; it was a very creepy feeling.

'What do you want to drink?' Romulus asked, making her look away from the Muggles.

'A Chocopop would be lovely thanks.' she smiled.

'A Chocopop? What is that? I've never heard of it.'

'It's new, with the lovely taste of chocolate but nice and fizzling.' she answered, smacking her lips with a wink. Romulus grimaced and made his way to the bar. Tonks sat back and looked at him. Though he reminded her of Remus, there was something completely different about him. Remus always had something weary about him which Romulus was missing. But still she wondered if…

'Are you a werewolf too?' she asked quietly as he put down two wild fizzling drinks.

He smiled calmly at her and simply nodded. When she kept looking at him over the drinks he started talking; 'After our mother died our father dedicated his life to trying to capture Greyback, you know to take his mind off things. Greyback, already a big enemy of our family decided to punish him once more. He sent a pack of his 'friends' to our house while he was distracting our father by setting a trail. When they faced each other, Greyback easily could have killed him, but he didn't. He wanted our father to return and be able to see what was done to his last 'normal' son.' His face was sombre now, 'Our father killed himself for what happened to the both of us now, thought it was his fault.' Romulus snorted angrily, 'He didn't even think of what it would do to us, leaving two young werewolves without parents.' Then he looked shocked, 'Oh no I didn't mean that, I... I meant…'

'Yes you did.' Tonks whispered.

Romulus blushed, 'I know…I just don't know why I've told you that. It's just so easy to talk to you, you seem so kind and I just blurted it all out.'

'Remus apparently doesn't think so, he never told me about his 'family tragedy'.'

Romulus chuckled, 'Well, that's Remus I guess.' He was quiet and looked at her, 'So, how do you know him? Or should I ask, how well do you know him.' he asked winking suggestively.

Tonks pulled a face, 'Actually, I'm not sure. We sort of broke up.'

'How can you 'sort of' break up?' he asked. When she shrugged he grabbed her hand, 'Well it's a shame, for Remus I mean.'

Tonks was shocked by how forward Remus' brother was, so very different from the man she knew. But she actually liked it and she smiled. Romulus took this as an encouragement and bowed over to her, closing in the space between their lips and softly kissing hers. For a second Tonks hesitated. Then she decided this was the best way of getting her thoughts of Remus and kissed him back. Suddenly she knocked over her glass of Chocopop.

'Damn it, that's the second time today!' she said irritable.

His eyes were twinkling. 'It doesn't matter.', he said, vanishing the mess with his wand. He gave her the rest of his own drink and stood up. 'Let's go see my furry brother.'

Remus was awakened by the sound of the opening door. He looked at the clock to see that only half an hour had passed since Tonks had left. Now she came in again, in her 'normal' form and behind her came… his brother, Romulus. Remus sat up straight but immediately regretted it. His head was pounding and his vision was swirling. Romulus looked down at him uncomfortably.

'How are you Remus?' he asked.

Remus took a breath, 'I'm fine, thanks.' he answered pleasantly. The two brothers stared at each other more awkwardly as the silence lingered. Then Romulus looked away and walked to the window. There he stood still and looked down to the streets of Muggle-London. Remus cleared his throat.

´So…where have you been up to lately?' he asked.

Romulus shrugged and turned around again, Remus didn't like the way he looked at Tonks. 'Not much, just some business for my own…' his voice trailed away as he kept staring at Tonks. The way she looked back made a jolt of jealousy surge through Remus' body. But then she looked down at him and he saw her face soften even more. Uncertain he smiled at her.

Tonks felt many emotions at the sight of the way Remus smiled at her; doubt, hope, guilt and affection. She sat down uncomfortable as the brothers continued asking each other things about their past. She learnt that Romulus had been adopted by a French couple at the age of seven. He showed them by saying something to her in probably perfect French, after kissing her hand. She didn't understand what he had said, her French was terrible, but the look on Remus' face showed he didn't like it.

Remus then told his brother he had lived in France to for a while, after James and Lilly had died. Romulus looked a bit surprised and the two started a rapid conversation in French. Tonks didn't quite follow it so she went down to get some lunch for the three of them.

She was very confused, confused by the fact she liked Romulus so much while she hardly knew him. And then, when Remus had smiled hesitantly at her, her old feelings for him came rushing back. She felt like she was going to explode from all the emotions she felt. She _thought_ she still liked Remus better. But was she really to wait for him while he discovered just how much they where meant to be? Maybe she should have a little 'fun' while she waited.

But that was so not like her; using someone for the fun until she could dump him again for his brother. Maybe she should just totally forget about Remus like she had planned to. But that hadn't worked. He kept swirling around in her mind, he was just so thoughtful, so sensitive, so kind… too kind. Kind enough to deny his feelings 'in favour' of her.

Tonks was _very_ confused…

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A/N: whoa, I found this chapter very hard to write. So much dialogue and thoughts. Human beings are very complicated creatures ;). Hope you'll forgive me a little slip in the English language every now an then. A bit reviewing would be nice too...it would help me improve my writing. 


	5. Park Troubles

Disclaimer: You must know the deal by now; I do not own the world or characters that J.K. Rowling created with her Harry Potter books.

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'…and apply it twice a day.' the doctor finished, handing over the tube of ointment. Remus nodded, shook the old doctor's hand, grabbed his belonging and made for the exit of St. Mungo's. As he stepped out of the shop-window and merged with the Saturday-shopping-mass, his mind was on Tonks again. When Romulus and she had left, the door hadn't closed fast enough to block his view on him taking her hand.

Remus had told her to find a young man to be happy with, but he hadn't meant another werewolf! Besides, it still hurt him to see it actually happen. He sighed as he descended the stairs to the London Underground. He hesitated when he arrived at the metro to his station and decided to go to hers instead. He needed to talk to her.

As they made for the living room and sat down at the table, Romulus looked around the apartment. 'Nice place.' he remarked.

Tonks smiled, 'Thanks… Oh, do you want to drink something?' she asked, remembering her manners.

'Yes please.'

'What would you like to have?'

'Do you have a beer for me?'

She put her hands on her hips, 'Are you kidding me? Beer at eleven in the morning?'

He tried a pleading smile, 'Yes?'. She laughed and walked towards the fridge. Romulus frowned at the two bottles in her hand, 'And you're scolding _me_ for a beer in the morning?'

She smiled and they both drank. Tonks looked at him and thought about how much she liked him. They had gone out together for a couple of days now and spent time together more and more. This morning they had eaten breakfast at a nice little café, after that she had suggested going to her place. Now she was enjoying drinking beer with hem at eleven in the morning, she was even in for doing more with him at eleven in the morning…

Remus was on his way from the underground to her apartment. He enjoyed being outside again. The sun came from behind the clouds as he walked through the park. He walked down the trail that led in the direction of her house and breathed the fresh air. After he came out of the park and crossed the road he walked up her garden path.

Nobody came to answer the door after he knocked twice but he remembered having her key. He opened up the door and called her name through the apartment. He stepped in a few steps and called again. Uncertain he made back for the door, but then Tonks' head popped out of the bedroom. Her hair was messed up and her cheeks where red. Remus stiffened, turned around immediately and ran down the stairs.

'Remus wait!' Tonks shouted. 'Damn it! _Exuviae_!' After she had tidied herself up again with a handy spell that actually worked in one try, she ran after him. Panting, she caught up with him in the park. She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. 'What are you doing sneaking up my apartment?' she asked angrily.

'Who was in there with you? Was it Romulus? One werewolf or another doesn't make a difference to you as long as you can have fun?' he snarled back.

'So what if it doesn't? You ain't got nothing more to say about that! We're over, remember?' and with that she turned around, 'Goodbye Remus, have a nice life.'

And, without another word, she walked away, leaving Remus behind, breathing heavily and speechless. This wasn't right, he was sure of it. But what could he do, now she had found somebody else? His brother of all people! Remus felt his anger rise.

He started to walk back to Tonks' apartment. But then he changed his mind, it wouldn't help if he just hustled in there and beat his brother up. Besides, that wasn't like him. The thought alone frightened him. But still, he found himself suddenly wishing he had no brother at all.

_As kids, we lived together. _

_We fought, we laughed, we wept. _

_We did not always show the love, _

_that we both had inside._

_We shared our dreams and plans,_

_and some secrets too. _

_All what bonds me now to you, _

_Are the memories we share._

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A/N: I'm sorry, this is a very short chap. And I won't be able to update for a while, because I will be going on a holiday to Austria. I'll try to keep writing but will mostly be snowboarding ;)


	6. A decision

**Chapter 6: Tonight I Wanna Cry**

Disclaimer: I don't own the world and characters of J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter books.

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Remus wasn't really watching the black-and-white images that were flashing by on his hostess' old TV. He thought of his conversation with Tonks at the park. The image of her, turning her back on him and walking away, was playing over and over again in his mind.

He turned the sound of the television down and made for his cupboard for a bottle of cheap red wine and a glass. Once he had emptied the glass he put it down and set the bottle on his lips instead. After a few more sips the photo of him and Tonks, which was standing on the mantelpiece, started to blur.

He wanted to wipe the tears away once they started to slide down his cheeks but didn't even bother. He had been so stupid letting Tonks go, he realized that now. But now it was too late and he already missed her.

He noticed the muggle-news was on now, from the images he could make out there had been another 'unexplainable' attack somewhere. Usually he would be shocked again, but tonight he couldn't care less. He felt empty and numb and tried to fill the space up with another gulp of wine. He had to try twice before he could stand up now as he made for the TV to turn it off.

Remus didn't know what to do next. His cheeks were still wet but he wasn't crying anymore. He just stood there staring at the lifeless screen. How could he ever do something again that would have any meaning?

He slowly walked to the kitchen and put away the almost empty bottle of wine. Then he went upstairs and let himself drop on his bed. He had a vision of Tonks lying there next to him, sleeping, her lips parted slightly and a sweet blush on her cheeks. He didn't remember whether she had ever slept there like that or that it was just him picturing her this way. It didn't matter; he wished she was lying there that very moment.

He suddenly realized he had never wished anything so selfish. Tonks was probably very happy with Romulus, even though he was a werewolf. Romulus had something unrestrained Remus could never equal and he matched Tonks just fine. Maybe Remus shouldn't wish having Tonks back again but he did.

And he was determined to fight for her from now on. With that thought firmly in his mind, he fell asleep with his clothes still on. The next morning he would regret his bottle of wine but not his decision.

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A/N: A bit cheesy chapter here. Reviews would really be an encouragement for me writing but I'll be patient with you guys ;).


	7. The Smell of a Footprint

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the world that J.K.Rowling created with the Harry Potter books and gain no material profit from writing this story.

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Red, snakelike eyes were looking at the werewolf standing before them. A glint of happiness, that could not often be seen, appeared in them now as the wolf-man told about his progress._

'_When will you bring her to me?' The Dark Lord interrupted the other._

'_I…before the end of this week Master.' The werewolf stuttered as he was caught off guard by the sudden question. 'And I assure you, she will be perfect for our plans, even though it will be hard putting an Imperius spell on her given the fact that she is an Auror.' he blinked nervously at the look on his masters face, 'Of course I'm sure that you will be capable enough to do it, no doubt about that!' _

_The red eyes never left the werewolf as the Dark Lord answered with an emotionless voice; 'Just go get that metamorphmagus for me wolf.'_

Remus woke with a start, feeling there was something wrong. As he showered himself the feeling lingered, even got stronger. He didn't know where it came from but thought it might have something to do with the strange nightmare he had. He had dreamt more often about the time when Sirius died and a feeling like this always remained afterwards, just never this strong. This time he had not been able to maintain his grip on Harry and the young man had followed his godfather through the veil. The thought was even more unbearable than the remembrance of loosing Sirius and that was bad enough as it were. He didn't want to think about it too long and went down for breakfast.

Eating a sandwich with cheese he read the Daily Prophet. The news about the attack on the Muggles was there and something about the invention of a new armouring spell that sounded useless.

After a while, however, the feeling of anxiousness had gotten so strong that Remus abruptly jumped up from his chair and started to pace up and down the kitchen. _What could cause this feeling?_ He wondered if his dream had something to do with reality, but he was sure Harry would be fine, anyway there was nothing he could do about that. Suddenly, giving in to a different urge, he ran for the door, grabbing his coat from the hook on the way. He stepped into the cold and onto the sidewalk. Then he turned around and looked back at his house. _What was he doing?_ He let his eyes linger one more moment at the old row house and then definitely made his decision. He was going to see if Tonks was all right.

_She could see nothing, everything was dark, but somehow she knew she wasn't alone and it frightened her. She tried to remember what happened but couldn't. Then she cautiously tried to move and couldn't do that either. Muffled noises of someone moving came to her from the dark. Suddenly the paralyzing curse was lifted and the lights were turned on, blinding her instantly._

'_Well well, look what the doggy has brought home for me.' a cold voice said. _

Remus had knocked on the door so hard his fist were raw. He hesitated using the key again but figured she would had heard his hammering even from the bedroom. So he took the risk of running into the both of Tonks and his brother again, as he had a couple of days ago. Slowly he opened the door and was shocked at the sight of her apartment. It was tidy. Too tidy. Tidy in a _very_ unTonksish way. The cushions on the couch were arranged neatly, there was no litter, paperwork or clothing lying about and no furniture was knocked over. It was as if someone had actually paid attention to the way the place looked.

_Calm down Remus, this doesn't mean anything. Maybe Romulus cared to clean up the place while staying over here. _Remus shivered at the thought of his brother staying over at her place. But he had a feeling the tidy room _did _mean anything.

He walked further to Tonks' kitchen. The tidiness seemed to be even more shocking there. From the kitchen he finally went to her bedroom. There everything was neat except for the bed, which was left extremely crumpled, as if to taunt him. And besides the bed he saw a footprint. A big footprint, not Tonks' footprint. _Well this is starting to look an awfully lot like CSI. _It seemed strange to Remus if Romulus would wear his shoes while getting out of Tonks' bed but it seemed also strange that someone left a single footprint. _What someone? Should there be a someone? _It was as if it was left there on purpose.

Remus inspected it some closer, then he smelled it. And he recognised the smell; it seemed to be coming from a place in which he had spent much time the last year. The werewolf hiding place at the London Underground. Remus would recognise that scent anywhere. _Look at me, the big lycanthropic tracker dog. _But then he realised the impact of him smelling that at Tonks' place.

And he started to run again.

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A/N: I still find it hard to write in English, I like it more to write in Dutch (easier to express myself) but then most of you wouldn't understand ;). So jealous of all those people who write long chapters in perfect English and get lots of reviews :-P

I had to use much italic writing in this chapter cause I wanted to write down a lot about Remus' thinking and mysterious 'other events'. I slightly revised this chapter, nothing big.

Meanwhile I want to thank **Solitairy Witch **for her kind reviews.

Also, new uploading may take a while since I'm in the middle of a big examination period. Thank youfor your understanding ;)


	8. A Good Deal of Trouble

Disclaimer: Like I said, I do not own the world and characters of Harry Potter. That belongs completely to J.K. Rowling.

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He ran back through the park at top speed. His coat was fluttering behind him like it had a life of its own. On his way he bumped in to several people and he knocked over a small boy, making an angry woman shout after him.

When he got to the stairs that let down under the streets he was breathing heavily but he kept running. Down the stairs and through the mob, that wrenched itself through the corridors. Jumping the ticket controller and running for the tubes he wondered where the most nearby entrance to the werewolf-hide-out was. He didn't mind the people that were pointing at him and shouting as he jumped the rails. Quickly he ran to a nearby air shaft, opened the grid that covered it and pushed himself inside it.

He hoped this was a right shaft because otherwise he would have to find some way to turn around and crouch back. But luckily, after a few meters, he found a gap, it was clearly made on purpose by someone and he could easily go through. It was a good thing werewolves were mostly very thin or the air shaft system wouldn't have worked.

The closed down tunnel he got in led in two directions and for one moment Remus hesitated, but then he smelled a familiar scent from the left and went that way. The tubes were dark but he used his heightened senses to find his way. After a few minutes of walking and some more branched he started to feel the wind of a more open space and he got to a big room. It was the closed down station that the werewolves used as a hide-out. The smell of dirty, sweaty bodies, blood and droppings were terribly strong here and Remus had troubles breathing. Carefully he climbed from the rails up to the waiting platform. In the dark he saw bodies lying on the ground everywhere. He was used to the werewolves sleeping all day and sneaked past them.

Now that he was here, he actually didn't know where to look, or what to look for. _Had Tonks really been taken by one of the werewolves? But what else would that footprint mean?_ _Wouldn't taking her be a perfect way for Greyback to revenge himself on Remus? But how would he know about the way Remus cared about her? _Deep in thoughts Remus suddenly stepped on something. The thing moved and, with horror, Remus realised it was an arm. He saw the owner of the arm open his eyes and look at him. As casual as he could, Remus made a silencing move and he saw the eyes close again. Cursing himself, Remus slipped deeper into the station. Still he didn't know what to expect. Then he froze; he wasn't sure of it but he thought he could see someone leaning against a pillar in the centre of the hall. The werewolves usually didn't bother putting out guards. As they slept, they all slept together.

Remus narrowed his eyes in an attempt to get a better look on the figure but could see nothing but a silhouette. Still he had a feeling the person had its head turned straight towards him and was looking at him in silence. Remus felt a chill go down his spine and didn't move; he waited for the other to speak.

'Romulus and I…' a low mans voice slowly spoke and Remus recognised it immediately. Fear overwhelmed him and he took a step backwards. He bumped into someone standing behind him and waged a quick look behind. All the werewolves he had passed had risen up and were looking at him with a dangerous glint in their eyes. 'Romulus and I,' Greyback spoke again, 'we made a nice agreement.' The old werewolf took a step forward and his face came into a stroke of light. Remus could see the mad grin that gave him an even more frightening look. 'You see, he offered me a way to get back to you for what you did last moon. He knew someone you care about a lot, someone he happened to need for Our Master.' At this Remus felt his fists tighten, he didn't like where this was going at all, weren't it enough that he was surrounded by hostile werewolves. 'I didn't have to do much for it, just had to help him kidnap the girl and leave a stupid footprint behind. It would be enough to get you here, we didn't even need to actually _have_ the poor thing here. You just came rushing in like a maniac, even faster than we expected. Luckily I had put some guards out that warned me once you were sneaking through our corridors.'

Greyback stopped and looked at Remus expectantly. _What was he expecting? Fear? Anger? Despair? _Remus was feeling all, but not for himself. Romulus had needed Tonks for 'Our Master', that could only mean one person. _Voldemort! Why had he been so stupid not considering Romulus was one of Voldemorts followers?_ After all, Romulus was a werewolf, a werewolf that was spit out by society. He hadn't had the chance to go to Hogwarts like Remus had. Before that their father had died and the brothers had lost sight of each other. Remus never knew what happened to his younger brother. When he came home after his last year at Hogwarts, the year Romulus had been bitten and their father had killed himself, he heard from his aunt the boy had ran away.  
Though Remus had never seen his brother among Greybacks pack, he might have been recruited by some other werewolf. And now he was working for Voldemort and he had taken Tonks for him. Remus felt anger rise up inside him, it was getting stronger than the other emotions he felt. But then Greyback stepped forward again and brought Remus back to reality.

'So, what are you going to now, traitor? This time you haven't got your little friends, the Aurors with you.' He kept coming closer and the other werewolves were closing in on Remus too.

His mind was racing; he really didn't know what to do now. He wanted to get out to save Tonks but there was simply no way. He didn't know what to do to him but got a feeling he was about to find out soon as the werewolves jumped him…

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A/N: I actually should be studying for my exams but I don't really feel like it :-P So I decided to write yet an other part of my story. Hope I will be able to continue this exciting story soon enough ;) Hehe, I'm probably enjoying this more than you do. 


	9. Everything Under Control

Disclaimer: Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Well you can't tell from there. But I can tell you I don't and I don't own the Harry Potter books either, she does.

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'_Here's what I want you to do…'_

Following her direct orders, Tonks walked straight to the Aurors Headquarters once she got into the building that belonged to the Ministry of Magic. She took the elevator that led to the second level and walked into the corridor that led to the right office. When she entered the big room that was filled with cubicles for each of her colleagues ,she was overwhelmed by the noise that was erupting from it. Soon enough, she saw Shacklebolt marching towards her through the exited crowd of Aurors. He looked a bit agitated but angry at the same time.

'Where were you this morning?' he barked at her, but he didn't await her answer and ranted on, 'This is a very important situation and you don't show up. But not just that, you don't even bother to report sick or anything so I have to worry about you on top of it all.'

Tonks just stared at him; 'I'm sorry.' she said and moved on.

Shacklebolt seemed to swell with anger, then he calmed himself and walked after her. 'Aren't you going to ask me what happened?' he asked surprised.

'What happened?' she asked obediently.

'You're not gonna believe it! We were on a patrol this morning, you know, just regular stuff around the building, when we caught Peter Pettigrew trying to sneak through the back. Not a clue what he was doing there but we captured him! We wanted to inform Potter and Lupin but we don't have a clue where any of them are. Do you know…?'

But Tonks didn't hear the rest of it as she managed to shake him off in the agitated crowd. She sighed irritated as another co-worker was interrupting her on her way.

'_You have a very important task to do.'_

'Hey, Tonks! Where are you going?' the guy, named Dingerly, asked her curiously. He was about her age and she knew him from Aurors Training.

She made up something fast, 'I want to see it with my own eyes.'

Dingerly didn't have to ask her what she wanted to see. 'Let me go along with you. I would like to see him too.'

'No!' she said sharply. He looked hurt and surprised. 'I mean, it's best not to let too many people in and out all the time.'

'But I really would like to see him. Please?'

'Don't be a child Dingerly. I'll tell you what I saw afterwards.' she moved on again, leaving him stand there, still looking hurt.

Finally she got to the room that contained the one and only way to get to the magical prison of Azkaban. The Auror that stood in front of the door seemed to be the only one in the building who was calm.

'Business?' he grunted.

'I would like to have a look at the new prisoner, Pettigrew.'

'Sorry, can't do that. Auror Moody is questioning him right now. I can't let anyone in, other than the Minister of Magic.'

Tonks smiled, 'Okay sure, no problem.' She walked away and the guard watched her go with a suspicious look on his face. Tonks wasn't known for giving up so easily.

A few minutes later Scrimgeour entered the Auror Headquarters. A few of the Aurors fell quiet and made way for him. With firm steps the Minister of Magic made his way directly to the door on the other side of the room. The guard stood up straight as the highest boss of the ministry approached.

'Business, sir?'

'I'm here to check on the Death Eater called Peter Pettigrew. Now get out of my way, you're delaying my schedule.'

'S-sorry sir.' the guard stuttered and freed the entrance to the room quickly. But suddenly he seemed suspicious, 'Sir?' he asked.

'What!' barked Scrimgeour, 'It better be something important soldier, or you'll be fired before the end of your shift!'

The other man paled, he shook his head immediately and took a step back. Scrimgeour entered the room and walked directly to the Portkey that was the only way to get in or out of the prison of Azkaban. This Portkey was actually a key; a big, gaudy, golden key. A little bit overdone, but that hadn't been Scrimgeours decision, one of his predecessors probably had done it.

'_Take the Portkey that gets you to Azkaban.'_

The guard walked to the key. 'Ready sir?' he asked as he and the Minister of Magic grabbed the key, 'Go!'

There was some familiar jerking behind navels and some swirling of colors and then the two men arrived at Azkaban.

'Okay good luck sir, I'll be back once I get the signal.' the guard gestured at the wooden lever at the opposite wall. The lever could be switched by a visitor and the guard would come back with the Portkey. Except for swimming, which was nearly impossible, only Sirius Black had done it once, there was no other way of getting out.

The Portkey and the guard disappeared again and Scrimgeour turned to see a nervous looking man standing in the doorway of the reception. 'S-s-s-sir? C-can I h-h-help you?' Scrimgeour believed that it wasn't just his presence that made the other nervous. The Azkaban guards had to deal with several uprisings since the Dementors were gone. Several of the officials even were killed and it became harder and harder for the Ministry to find new guards.

'Yeah, you can help me indeed. Tell me where the cell of the prisoner Peter Pettigrew is.'

´Sure, follow me.´ the man started to turn around.

'_Make sure everyone is out of your way.'_

´I said tell me, not show me.´

The guard looked confused now, he didn't notice the dangerous glint in the Ministers eyes. ´But why? Isn't it just easier if I bring you to the right cell?'

Scrimgeour sighed, 'Oh, never mind. I'll find it myself.'

And before the poor guard had any clue what was going on he was lying on the ground, paralyzed. He watched, not able to move a muscle, as the Minister of Magic suddenly transformed in a girl with pink hair. The girl stretched, muttered 'Much better.' and walked out of the room, her wand drawn.

'_Go free Peter Pettigrew for me, one way or another.'_

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A/N: Well that took me long enough. Those exams are just terrible. But I worked hard to finish this chapter quickly and you would reward me greatly by reviewing. Then _maybe_ I'll reveal you what happened to Remus next chapter. No, only kidding. This story goes with the flow of my imagination; I can't control what happens in it ;)


	10. Swaying Around

Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Harry Potter and all those other lads. They belong to the great J.K. Rowling who wrote the Harry Potter books (and not this silly fanfic). She created them, the credit is all hers.

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Remus was knocked backwards by one particularly heavy werewolf before he could grab for his wand. He felt the air being knocked out of his lungs as the man landed in top of him. Desperately Remus struggled to get the man of him while others were clawing at him. Suddenly the person was lifted off him and Remus could breathe again. His vision was blurred but he could recognise Greyback standing bowed over him. He felt a sharp pain in his side as someone bit him in his side, Remus gasped, half of surprise, half of pain. He tried to twist himself out of the attacker's way but he couldn't escape.

Greyback grabbed his prey by the shirt and lifted him, he felt the other pant heavily. Slowly he brought his face closer and saw Lupin flinch at the smell of his breath.

'I'm not sure to kill you myself or to let my followers do it.' he spoke slowly. Some of the others were still clawing at Lupins legs. Greyback kicked at some of them, he had decided he wanted this prey for himself.

'Brunter!' he barked. The man called Brunter stepped forwards from the crawling mass of werewolves.

'Yes master?' the man said in a subservient manner.

'Search him for his wand; I don't want any surprises while I vent myself upon him.' Greyback managed an extremely evil grin. His servant checked Lupins pockets and grabbed his wand out of his shabby jacket.

Greyback grunted satisfied, 'So…' He tightened his grip on the struggling mans shirt. Suddenly, he placed his fist hard in his victims' stomach. He enjoyed the sound of Lupins groans. He outstretched his 'claw' and felt his nails sink satisfyingly deep in the mans flesh.

The other werewolves got restless; they wanted to join the fun too. But then, rumour started in the back as a woman entered from one of the tunnels. She oversaw the scene and quickly proceeded through the crowd.

'Stop that immediately!' she shouted.

Greyback looked up from his preoccupation, annoyed. 'And why exactly, my dear Feya, would I do that?'

'Because he needs to be preserved.' she paused, looking at him sternly. He looked back, an eyebrow raised questionably. 'The Dark Lord wants him.' she deigned herself to explain.

'Oh great.' Greyback sighed, he let his victim go, who fell immediately to the floor.

Remus felt his knees fail the moment Greyback let him go. He had no clue what was going on but he heard Greyback talking with a woman. He tried to get himself in a more comfortable position but every movement hurt his side. Struggling, he managed to lift his head a bit and saw the woman coming towards him.

Once she was only a few feet away he recognized her and he gasped in surprise. 'Feya?' he managed.

'Shut up Lupin.' Greyback growled, kicking him in his painful side.

'Stop it.' Feya said sharply, 'He's no good to us if he's too weak.'

Greyback sneered, 'Oh, so it's _us _now. Well, what do _you _want to do with him anyway?'

'None of your business wolf.'

At this some of the werewolves started to shift restlessly, they looked at her angrily. Greyback just looked amused, 'What's that supposed to mean? You're just the same as us.'

'Never!' she spat, 'All your filthy pack does is crawling around in some dirty hole, biting people every once in a month, creating even more horrible monsters.'

Greyback still seemed unmoved by her harsh words, but one of the other werewolves stepped forwards, looking furious. 'What makes you so much better than us? You're only crawling around in some other dark hole, kissing the Dark Lords ass.'

Feya seemed shocked by the woman's language; she opened her mouth then closed it again. Then she appeared to gather herself again. 'Enough of this.' she spoke, 'I'm taking him with me and you're going to help me Greyback.'

Greyback huffed but realised he didn't have much of a choice. He gestured for her to go ahead. '_Mobilicorpus!_' Feya spoke as she flipped her wand.

Remus felt himself being lift by his arms and head. A sharp jolt of pain went through his side again. He couldn't fight himself free from the spell because he was too weak. He realised he must have been loosing blood as he felt himself getting a bit light in the head.

With another flick of her wand Feya made him move to the stairs. Remus struggled to say something, 'Fe…ya…Feya what…?'

She ignored him, walked after him, ascending the stairs that led back to the streets. Greyback followed them, after giving instructions to Brunter. They came to the ticket hall, where several lifeless desks and machines stood. From there, the stairs were barricaded by wooden barriers.

'Open up.' Feya demanded.

Greyback walked to one of the obstructions and shifted some loose planks so that a hole, big enough for a person, was formed. Feya manoeuvred carefully Remus through the hole, but couldn't prevent him bouncing his head. He felt so helpless hanging there, being moved around unwillingly. He still wondered what Feya was up too and if he was any better of now than he had been with Greyback.

He tried again talking to her. After all, she had been his friend for quite a while. But that had been long ago. What was her position in this now?

Suddenly he noticed they had stopped near the top of the stairs. 'We can't let him float like this in the open; it will attract too much attention.' Feya said, gesturing towards Lupin. She thought about it for a sec, 'A disillusionment charm will do.'

As she ticked her wand on his head, Remus felt the strange sensation of an egg being cracked over him that came with it.

'Feya?' he tried again.

'For heavens sake! What is it _Lupin_!'

Remus was shocked by her tone, still he continued. 'What are you doing? I mean…'

'What does it look like I'm doing?' she interrupted him, 'I'm taking you to the Dark Lord, my master, so he can use you for his purposes. Are you stupid or something?'

Remus didn't know what to say. How could she do that? Since when was Voldemort her master? It must have been quite a while since Greyback seemed to know her, even if he obviously didn't like her.

Feya made a brisk movement with her wand and he shot forward onto the streets. There, he collapsed with a passing Muggle who looked very confused and scared at being knocked over by nothing. Remus heard Feya curse angrily and he felt another swing at his body, making him move on quickly, before the Muggle would decide to get a better look at the 'nothing'.

It was a really strange feeling, being swayed around like a flag to avoid the Muggles in the crowded street. He bumped into several more people, some of them looking downright alarmed and some of them starting to scold at some other passant.

Behind him Greyback was telling Feya off for being so careless. She cut him off and halted Lupin with yet another flip of her wand.

'We can't bring him to the hideout like this.' she said, '_Ceasufy!_'

Remus could see some of the Muggles looking strangely at the woman waving with a stick and shouting something, but then everything went dark and he couldn't see anything anymore.

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A/N: Exams? What is that? Can you eat it? Blegh, me no like, me like fanfic.  
Right… Anyway, yet another chapter while I should be studying. My review got me inspired to write some more about Remus' fate ;) Thanks for that. 


	11. There's betrayal and 'betrayal'

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, spells, places, creatures, items etc. that J.K. Rowling created for her books of Harry Potter and that I am currently using to fill up this story.

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The corridors of the magical prison of Azkaban were dead silent. Most prisoners were just sitting in their cell, brooding for a way to deceive those stupid guards and break free from the fort. From the back of Wing 3 some muttering could be heard. There was a brisk voice, then a trembling one, which responded silently.

Suddenly there was a hiss and then complete silence. No, not complete silence, some footsteps were echoing down the corridor.

Suddenly the door of the last room was banged open. A scarred, sinister head appeared through it. 'I thought I told you to leave us alone!' 'Mad-Eye' Moody barked. Then he saw who was coming towards them. His jaw dropped, 'Tonks? What are you…?'

He couldn't finish his sentence for she had lifted her wand and made a whipping movement. A slash appeared among Moody's chest, his eyes grew big in surprise and he stumbled backwards. But, to Tonks surprise, he managed to lift his wand too and mutter a spell. She felt her limbs go stiff as she was put under the same spell she had used on the guard in the reception.

'_Damn it!' _she thought as she hit the solid ground hard. She saw Moody collapse to the ground too. Together they were lying there for several silent minutes. Then, with much groaning, Moody started to crawl towards the open door. Tonks suspected Peter was in there too. She fought against the paralysing spell but it was hopeless. She saw Moody drag himself into the room, he left a trail of blood. Tonks heard Moody mutter something but he was cut off by a soft _thump_. Then there was silence again.

Tonks didn't have a clue what was going on in there but she cursed herself for underestimating Moody. Would she not have been so stupid she would have been able to complete her task and free Wormtail by now. Suddenly, this wasn't a problem anymore as Wormtail appeared through the door, Moody's wand in his hand. He looked at her with fear and surprise, then he walked towards her and bowed over her. The stench of sweat and dirt fumed around her and she wanted to pinch her nose, were it not that she couldn't move a muscle. She had to lay there helpless as he took her wand.

'_You stupid!'_ she thought, _'I'm the one who came here to free you!'_ But he couldn't hear her, of course, and walked away with her wand. She wasn't able to see what happened next as her face was pointed toward the open door from which Wormtail had come. She heard the noises though; clanging of cell doors, cheering of prisoners, running footsteps, all down the corridor.

Peter Pettigrew had freed the other followers of Voldemort. By the sound of it they were going towards the reception. Tonks wondered if they would manage to get away. They would have to go through the Aurors office and then all the way through the rest of the ministry. It would take one hell of a fight to do that and only few of them had wands, the wands they stole from her, Moody and the Azkaban guards.

Tonks wished she could move so she could help them. Her mission would be ruined if the prisoners, with Peter Pettigrew among them, would be stopped and captured again. If Moody survived the events her cover would be blown and everything would be lost. She knew it was no use but tried to fight the spell anyway.

Suddenly her arm and leg shot high up in the air. Surprised, she made some more uncontrolled movements before she sat up. '_What just happened?' _She stood up and moved carefully to the door at the end of the corridor. She saw Moody there, lying in a pool of blood that had formed from the deep cut in his chest. Looked like he had finally died, lifting the paralysing spell from her. _'It was about time bastard. You almost messed the whole thing up.'_ Tonks smiled, then remembered her mission and turned around quickly. She ran down the corridors, past the empty cells, all the way to the reception hall.

It was empty.

Tonks lunged for the leverage and pulled it hard, several times. There came no response. Angrily she hit the leverage with all her strength, but it had no effect besides that it broke of the wall.

After she calmed down, she considered the situation. The prisoners had probably killed the Portkey's guard, after that they had went into the Aurors Headquarter and left the Portkey behind. It would be a slaughter on either side, and the surviving party wouldn't have any attention for the abandoned Portkey. She was locked in Azkaban, without a wand, running free through the corridors, but with no way out.

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A/N: Whoo, sorry it took me so long. My excuses are my exams and a very nice trip to the city of Amsterdam yesterday. But my exams are finally over now and there'll be no more Amsterdamming for a while now. More updating up ahead. 


	12. Blinded Arrival

Disclaimer: even in this chapter I still don't own the world and characters you recognise from the Harry Potter book. Why would I? I didn't create them, that's all J.K. Rowlings beautiful work.

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The centre of London was packed and noisy. Hundreds of people were walking the shopping streets, chattering and shouting. Cars and busses tried to honk their way through the crossing masses. Merchants were offering their goods and street artist were playing their music. In short it was a normal, chaotic Saturday shopping day.

The noises were deafening to Remus. He couldn't see a thing but the more he heard. Though they were mostly taking the small, quieter alleys, they sometimes crossed a square or a market. Remus was swooped around wildly whenever they came around one of the more crowded places and he was getting a bit nauseous. He wondered if Feya was taking them right through the centre just to taunt him.

In one of the alleys Remus felt his body suddenly stop floating. He heard Feya shuffling around, key being put in a lock and then a door opening. He was set on the move again and, by the feeling of it, manoeuvred into some building. It smelled musty, like they were going inside some basement or cave.

'Come on!' Feya said impatiently. Apparently Greyback was hesitating to go inside.

'Do I really need to come with?' the old werewolf grunted.

'Yes, you really need to come with,' Feya sneered, 'you need to help me explain the situation.'

Greyback growled something and moved along by the sound of it. The three of them went on and walked, floated and shuffled for some minutes. Then Greyback spoke up again.

'Are you sure you know the way?'

Remus wondered what this comment meant. He had felt for quite a while now, that they were descending. Greybacks words seemed to imply that they were in some kind of underground network.

'Don't whine, just follow me.' the answer from Feya came. 'And yes, I do know the way; I've been here often enough.'

They seemed to descend more and more. Minutes were passing, the air was getting muskier and, apparently, they were going by more crossroads. Greyback and Feya didn't speak anymore, nor did Remus try to ask any more questions as he knew they wouldn't answer.

After a while, they came round a particularly sharp corner. An unknown, woman's voice echoed through the tunnel.

'Stop right there!' They stopped dead. Remus heard footsteps coming towards them. 'Who are you and what is your business here?' the woman spoke.

'Feya Bentwood here, to see the Dark Lord and bring him a captive on his command. I also bring the werewolf Greyback with me.' Feya's voice came.

'Wait here.' the other woman commanded.

Remus heard the footsteps distance themselves again, then a door opening and closing and then silence. All that was heard was the breathing of Greyback and Feya and a third person, further away; Remus supposed there was a second guard.

'All okay Hayers?' Feya asked politely.

'_No! Not Jaston Hayers too!' _Remus thought, gasping for breath.

Greyback must have noticed his shock because he spoke in his ear, 'What's wrong Lupin? Another old friend of yours?'

Remus ignored him. Feya and Jaston Hayers had continued their conversation.

'Any news from out there?' Jastons familiar voice sounded.

'Not much.' Feya answered. Then Remus heard some amusement in her voice, 'Hey, remember Remus Lupin. Remus felt himself floating closer to his two former friends. It was silent for a few seconds. 'Yeah, I do believe I remember him.' Jaston said slowly.

Feya laughed in a very unFeyalike manner, 'Our goody…'

But she was cut off by the feminine guard who had opened the door again and ordered them to come further.

Remus was set on the move again, he felt like he didn't want to know what was about to come. His blinded arrival was, to say, at least very scaring. He was startled by every sudden sound and the slamming of the door behind them caused him to jump, even if that was impossible in his floating state. His side still hurt, none of his escorts had bothered to stop the bleeding. He wished he could dodge things as his head was banging the ceiling all the time. But the most scaring thing to him, was not knowing what was to come. He didn't know why he was taken to Voldemort. Had it anything to do with Tonks? If Feya hadn't come to the London Underground he probably would be dead already by now. He didn't think he should be thankful to her though. He wasn't any better off now.

The group stopped again and Remus heard the sound of knocking on wood. They were knocking on Voldemorts door and Remus wished he could be anywhere but here. He then heard a voice, a cold and emotionless voice, one he would have never wished to hear.

'Come in.'

A door opened and the group moved into the room, or whatever it was.

'We've come to bring you the werewolf Lupin, member of the Order of the Phoenix and spy in our middle.' Feya spoke after a moment of silence.

'Unblind him, I want my captives to look me in the eyes when they come to me.' the cold voice said. Remus felt shivers go through his spine, making the wound in his side ache some more. His sight suddenly came back after he was _clearified. _

He found himself in a big room with no windows, which seemed to be roughly cut out in dark stone. Feya, Greyback and the guard, who had leaded them here, stood next to him. At the most far end from the door a raising was cut out with a heavy stone chair on it. On the chair sat a man. Remus avoided the man's gaze; instead he let his eyes slide further up. Above the stone chair some torches were hung up, they were the only source of light in the room. Remus' eyes then finally got to the ceiling far above him. His breath was taken by the beautiful carvings on it, it was the only part of the room that was neatly cut. The carvings depicted a magical forest, Remus recognised figurines of unicorns and centaurs and many other forest creatures. The ceiling was so beautiful it was completely misplaced in its surroundings. Remus realised it couldn't have been Voldemorts followers who had cut it. The room and the tunnel network must originally belonged to someone else and Voldemort had taken it for his own use and spoiled it with his filthy plans.

'Look at me.' Voldemort spoke; a little bit annoyance could be heard in his voice. Remus ignored him and still stared at the ceiling. He didn't really feel like looking in those snakelike eyes, didn't feel like looking in the face of the 'man' who had caused so many people so much misery. 'You Phoenix members are always so hopelessly stubborn. And for what? It's not like its going to help you.' Voldemort continued. 'Listen to me you fool!' he suddenly burst out, an extraordinary demonstration of emotions. The other in the room stepped back, looking scared. Remus still didn't react; he also didn't feel like listening to this monster, even though he might feel sorry for that later. In the corner of his eyes he saw Voldemort slowly reaching for his wand on the arm-rest of his chair. He braced himself for what was about to come.

'_Extorqueo_!' Voldemort said deliberately slow. Suddenly Remus couldn't breathe anymore, he had the feeling all his bones were wrenched together and his muscles were being tensed up to the maximum. His head was forced down so that it faced Voldemort on his chair but it was only after Remus looked him in the eyes that the terrible pressure disappeared. He gasped for breath. 'Good, now Greyback, you tell me how he got here. Romulus already told me about your little plan.'

Greyback flinched at being spoken to. 'He showed up after following the trail Master. We trapped him and thought about having a little fun with him when _she_ showed up.' he said, gesturing towards Feya. 'She told us you needed him sir, and so we brought him here.'

'Well you can have your fun with him afterwards. I need him here for a while as a back-up. I'm doubting the 'loyalty' of the metamorphmagus a bit.' Voldemort responded softly. 'Enough about this, take him to his room.' he told the guard, 'I have better things to do now. You may leave too.' The last was directed towards the two other werewolves.

Just as Remus was taken over by the guard and manoeuvred towards the door a group of men and women came bursting from it. Remus recognised some Death Eaters, among whom there were Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew. He also noticed most of them were badly wounded.

'Master!' Malfoy panted.

'What happened?' Voldemort spoke loudly above the noise they were making.

'We…we escaped from Azkaban.' Remus was still floating in the room as the guard had stopped curiously too. 'It was one hell of a fight but most of us made it through the Aurors Headquarters.'

'I managed to grab an Aurors wand Master!' Wormtail squeaked excitedly.

'What happened to the metamorphmagus? The one I send to help you.'

Wormtail froze, 'You…you mean that pink haired one from the Order of the Phoenix s-sir?'

Voldemort nodded, his eyes squeezed to small slits.

'_Y-you_ send her sir?' the small man stammered on.

'I just told you, didn't I?' Voldemorts voice was now only a whisper.

Wormtail whimpered, 'I didn't know sir!' he moaned, 'We left her behind sir. Please forgive us, we didn't…'

'Fool!' Voldemort yelled, his voice suddenly rising.

The guard that was steering Remus quickly moved on. Remus floated out off the room, leaving the frightening scene behind.

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A/N: so, this took me a few days but it's a pretty long chapter I guess.  
I'm finally starting to have some reviewers, feel free to join them if you want. Thanks :):)

Reviews are so rewarding, my eternal grattitude to those who placed them at my humble little story. Okay I'm gonna stop dragging on about it.


	13. Shrieking

Disclaimer: Sure I don't own the world and characters of the Harry Potter books. They all belong to J.K. Rowling who wrote the books and thereby gave me the opportunity to use them for my own imagination. But of course I'm only writing this for fun and not for any other (material) gain.

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She was roaming through empty corridors. There was nothing else to do in the empty prison of Azkaban. There was no way for her to contact the outer world and no other way to get out. Some prisoners, who were left behind by the Death Eaters, were shouting at her, begging her to free them.

Tonks stopped at one of them as she recognised him as Stan Shunspike. He was staring at her silently through the bars. She stared back, just because she didn't have any other thing to do.

'Do you know what's going on out there?' Stan Shunspike asked.

Tonks just nodded.

'What is it then? What happened?'

'All the Death Eaters escaped.' she answered.

Stan gasped for breath, 'You mean all the followers of Y-you-know-who are free again!'

Tonks walked on, leaving him to mutter on to the air. She felt empty now that her mission was taken out of her hands and either failed or succeeded. If her plans had gone well, she would have been back with the Death Eaters and waiting for new orders by now. And without those orders she was wandering around aimless.

She got to some stairs and started climbing them. The stairs ended into another passageway, this one had several doors. Hoping for a way out, she tried the door in the middle. As it opened she saw it lead to a control room. Hoping for some way of getting out, she pushed the door further open.

The room was crammed with Dark Detectors, placed to control the prisoners. They were adapted to warn the guards whenever a prisoner was at a place he wasn't supposed to be. Most of them were still howling or ringing; the prisoners were now very much on a place they weren't supposed to be. Several guards were lying near the door now, some of them dead, others paralyzed. Apparently they had been running for the door, warned by the Detectors, as the prisoners had come bursting in and attacked them.

Carefully, Tonks stepped over the bodies and looked around. She heard a high-pitched shriek, as if a bomb was falling, it even drew out the other noises of the Dark Detectors. Startled she looked around. Under the owl pipe in the corner, a medium large, black owl with big dark eyes was sitting on a stick.

Quickly she made her way to the animal, it shrieked again, making her cover her ears quickly. The owl looked at her expectantly. Tonks grabbed a pen and paper from a nearby desk, then she hesitated. _'Who am I going to write to?' _She could write to her Master, but what could he do for her in this position? There was no way for any of his followers to get to Azkaban with probably the entire ministry at guard now, except as a prisoner. She could write to the ministry itself, she was still Auror Tonks and no one knew of her actions so far, did they? She thought feverishly about anyone still alive who could betray her.

Suddenly her decision was taken out of her hands as she heard loud noises on the lowest floors. Running footsteps and shouts, someone had finally thought of having a look in Azkaban. Tonks stood very still, waiting as the footsteps got louder. She saw Aurors run up the stairs, stop dead and stare at her. Then, before she knew what was going on they had surrounded her, their wands high. Kingsley Shacklebolt made a step forwards.

'Tonks? What's going on in here? The guard in the reception told us…'

'_Of course, the guard!' _She mentally slapped herself for her stupidity. She had only paralyzed him and he had seen her turn from Scrimgeour to herself, after that he had seen all the Death Eaters escape. The Aurors had probably undone the spell and overheard him.

'…imperius?' Shacklebolt was now talking to an other Auror who looked at her confused.

'If so, we mustn't lift it, she might give us important information. When the imperius is lifted…'

He stopped abruptly as the pink-haired woman they were surrounding suddenly collapsed to the floor.

'Tonks!' Shacklebolt hurried towards her, forgetting all safety procedures. Worried, he bowed over, turned her around and saw that she was blinking with her eyes, confused.

'Kingsley?' Tonks looked around with surprise. 'What am I doing here? I…' her voice trailed away. Kingsley looked at the other Auror, who nodded in understanding.

'Don't you remember how you got here?' He asked. Tonks shook her head. Kingsley sighed, 'What's the last thing you remember?'

'I…I was at home.' Her voice trembled, she was obviously worn-out. 'I was just going to bed when someone knocked on my door. I asked who it was, Romulus answered. When I opened the door he…he was there with Greyback and two others.' She seemed to think for a while, frowning in concentration or in anger. 'They overpowered me and everything went dark. When I woke up I was in a cave and…and…' Tonks looked scared at the memory of it, 'Voldemort was there.'

The Aurors were trained not to fear the name Voldemort but some of them winced nevertheless at the sound it. Kingsley gave them an irritated look, 'Tell us what happened Nymphadora, come on.' he said encouragingly.

She was whispering now, 'He tried an imperius curse on me…but I managed to resist it. Then he used the crucio… It went on like this several times I guess and then…then everything is blurry. I remember some thing about having to go to Azkaban…' she stopped and looked around once more. 'Are we in Azkaban right now?'

Kingsley made an impatient movement, 'Yes we are. Now what else do you remember?'

Suddenly Tonks burst out in tears 'I-I don't know.' she stammered. Kingsley was taken aback, he had never seen a colleague cry and Tonks never was the person to shed tears either. He kneeled next to her and pulled her close, muttering comforting words. She sobbed into his shoulder but it didn't last very long. She pulled back and whipped her eyes, 'I'm sorry.' she whispered.

'All the Death Eaters escaped.' Kingsley informed her. The next moment he wished he hadn't said anything as tears formed in her eyes again.

'Is that my fault?' she asked.

'We are not sure yet.' he briskly answered.

Then, the Auror Dingerly came bursting through the door, 'Sir! We…We found Auror Moody, in one of the hearing rooms.' He was panting heavily. 'Sir, he's dead!'

Kingsley saw the look of fear on Tonks' face and he also knew what she feared. 'Bring me towards him.' he ordered.

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A/N: Well I hope this satisfied your needs. I realise the story get a bit slow here but I'm sure you will forgive me for that and review ;) 


	14. Two cells and a tower

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise from J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter books. That's clear enough I hope.

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Several people were walking past the small cell. Everybody was busy with something else. Somebody quickly shoved something warm to drink through the hatch in the solid door, then quickly moved on. The pink haired woman that was the only resident of the cell slowly got up from her bed and went to pick the mug up. She took a sip and closed her eyes, tears rolling down her cheek once more. She had just faced a dead Moody and memories had come flashing back. How she had raised her wand against him and how he had fallen to the ground. It was all her fault. Kingsley had said there was nothing she could do about it but then why was she here, locked in this cell like a criminal?

The drink calmed her down a bit, Tonks sniffed it and smelled some chamomile. She smiled for her mother, Andromena, had used it several times when Tonks was little. It always was the only thing to calm her down when she was bouncing up and down the room and knocking things over again.

After she had let the drink comfort her, she put down the mug again she laid down and tried to remember important information from Voldemorts hide-out, or other things she might have picked up.

Her night in here had been terrible, her sleeping mind had finally got the time to go over the things she'd been through and it had done so in abundance. Especially the memory of Voldemorts cave and his _persuasion _had come back many times.

She startled at the sound of voices outside her door. Slowly, it opened and Kingsley Shacklebolt entered, followed by the young Auror Dingerly

Dingerly instantly moved towards her and sat next to her. 'Poor Tonks.' he said, hugging her tightly.

Tonks gaped for breath, 'Dingerly…Sean let go! I can't breathe!' He was always so impulsive it was almost dangerous. He acted a bit like her, but often even worse. Nevertheless she smiled at him when he let go, he meant well and she appreciated it.

Kingsley cleared his throat, he looked at them with a slight smile, then his face became serious again. 'Do you remember anything useful yet?' he asked her.

'Nothing.' she answered quietly.

Kingsley saw her sad expression and felt like he had to comfort her. 'Look Tonks, we haven't put you in her because we think you are a criminal. It's just part of the procedure, until they completed the investigation. Besides, it's saver for everyone, including you. Voldemort will certainly be searching for you as long that there's any way you might give us important information. There's no way for him to get here.'

Tonks smiled sadly at him, 'Thanks.'

It was silent in the cell for several minutes. Dingerly rubbed her back in a soothing gesture, Kingsley seemed to evaluate her, as if to see if she was okay again.

'I…I have something to ask you.' he said slowly, hesitantly. Tonks head snapped up, she had a bad feeling about this. 'We have been searching for Lupin ever since we caught Pettigrew yesterday morning.' Kingsley continued. 'Do you have any clue where he might be?'

Tonks felt her heart go cold. 'You mean you can't find him?'

It was dark and quiet outside his cell. Inside it was even darker, but it wasn't really quiet. The sound of little paws could be heard everywhere around him. Rats were fighting over his only meal of the day, squeaking loudly, but Remus didn't pay them any attention. He was contemplating his current condition.

Apparently, he was being used to 'control' Tonks, whatever Voldemort was doing with her. He hoped she was all right, he had heard Malfoy say something about leaving her in Azkaban. Remus had been shocked by the fact that all the Death Eaters had escaped from the magical prison. As he was considering it, he began to like the story less and less.

If Tonks was really left behind, there was no way for Voldemort or his followers to get to her. That meant she was free again, but if Voldemort had used the imperius on her then… Remus didn't know what the outcome would be then. But Voldemort would have no use for her anymore in the hands of the Aurors. '_Why am I still here? What's going to happen to me now?'_

As rats surrounded him in his prison he sat in the furthest corner, staring into the darkness.

Rats where scurrying everywhere in her Masters stronghold. Feya Bentwood was cursing them as she climbed the round stairs that where leading to the old bell tower. _'Why does the meeting have to be all the way up there?' _she asked to no one in particular. The tower belonged to a small church, build long ago by wizards who had wanted a place of their own to practise religion. It was well hidden behind some hangars near the harbour and almost forgotten. No one would come here to search for the Dark Lord.

The stairs were climbing the tower endlessly and Feya tripped over loose stones or rats several times. She was panting heavily when she finally reached the end of them. A small porch led to the bell chamber, with the four massive magical bells. The ringing of those bells could only be heard by pureblood wizards. Feya found it to be quite funny that the Dark Lord wouldn't be able to hear the bells if the were rang, but of course she never spoke that thought out loud.

As she entered the gigantic chamber several people, those who were involved in the 'metamorphmagus case', turned towards her.

'Finally you're here.' Romulus sneered, 'What happened? The stairs were too much for you?'

Feya ignored him and walked past him, towards the balustrade at the far end of the chamber. Immediately she was overwhelmed by the view. Everywhere she directed her eyes the view magically zoomed-in, making her very dizzy. She tried to pull her gaze away from it but didn't manage.

'The trick is to watch through your eyelashes if you want it to stop.' a voice said in her ear.

Feya took no risk and closed her eyes completely; she only opened them after she had turned around. Jaston Hayers was standing behind her, with an amused look on his face. She hadn't heard him come in.

'Are you all right?' he asked with a slight smile. She nodded, still a bit nauseous. Behind she saw their Master apparate in the middle of the room. _'Why didn't I think of that?' _she wondered.

All people in the room turned towards the Dark Lord and fell on their knees. The meeting regarding Nymphadora Tonks' and Remus Lupins fate was about to begin.

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A/N: Sigh… school is starting all too soon andI'm alsobeginning ata new job. Can't begood for the progress of my story but I'll try my best, I promise. Please don't be angry if the next chapter may take a while :-/ 


	15. Cursed Memories

Disclaimer: Me? I certainly do not own anything you recognise from the Harry Potter books. J.K. Rowling? Yes, she does. And there's nothing I can/should do about it.

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'But My Lord, how could she have told them anything if she was under the imperius curse? Surely that guarantees unconditional loyalty?' Romulus suggested.

'Idiot,' the Dark Lord quietly spoke, 'off course it doesn't. One can resist an imperius curse if he or she is strong enough. But that's not the point. There are other, more subtle ways to get information from someone. Ways in which the person doesn't have to cooperate voluntary. The best way to prevent this is to take the information away, to hide it at an unreachable place.'

Feya was surprised; the Dark Lord had never bothered to explain something so clear to his followers. But she guessed Romulus had become one of his favourites.

Romulus seemed to be thinking about it, 'And the memories are attached to the imperius curse?' he asked.

'Not really,' this time it was Jaston who spoke, Feya knew he was quite the expert on the unforgivable curses, 'the imperius curse can be taken away but the memories remain. It's just that the curse messes up the victims mind severely enough to damage the memory of it. Everything will become almost impossible to regain.'

'_Al_most?' Feya spoke sharply. All faces turned towards her. She wished she hadn't spoken.

'Yes, almost.' Jaston answered. 'Unfortunately it isn't enough to just take the imperius curse away. There's always a chance something might come back after all. That's why we're so lucky to have Lupin. We can use him to make sure the metamorphmagus doesn't speak.'

'_Who put him in charge?' _Feya thought. She saw from the look on their Masters face he didn't like it either. But the Dark Lord showed an unusual amount of patience and simply nodded. Everyone's attention turned back to him immediately.

'Yes, we can use him for sure.' he decided. 'That's why I want you to guard him constantly.'

Feya saw Greyback pull an annoyed face and open his mouth to protest. _'Idiot, obviously he didn't experience our Masters impatience enough.' _

But before Greyback could say anything, the Dark Lord continued. 'You know how important this is so I'm convicted you won't let anything go wrong.' he said with a dangerous glint in his eyes. 'When he transforms, make sure he doesn't kill himself. You're off duty then off course.' The last was directed to Greyback, who took the opportunity to object. 'Master, I can't leave my pack! We have important things to do!'

'Like roaming around, biting children and eating from dead people? I'm sure your pack can manage that just fine on its own.' the Dark Lord spoke coldly.

Infuriated, Greyback opened his mouth again but Feya gave him a hard prod in the side. He snapped his mouth shut again and gave her an angry look. He was wise enough to bite back his planned remark.

Feya didn't care at all about Greyback, she had nothing to do with him, but she thought it would not be wise for any of them if the Master was annoyed. Luckily, he turned around and directed his words to Romulus. 'I want you to make sure the girl knows about her 'lost friend'. Inform her we have him and give her a nice image in mind of what we're going to do with him if she ever speaks.'

One immense pair of glasses was blocking her sight as the ministry's Debliviators came closer.

'Well, I can try one more spell but I don't think it's gonna work.' the bespectacled man sighed. 'I'm good at breaking a memory block, this, however, is a totally different case. The memories aren't blocked, they're put away.'

Tonks seized his robes, 'You have to make it work, I need to know where they keep Remus!' she shouted to him in a panicking voice, shaking him uncontrollably.

'Nymphadora…' Shacklebolt said in a calming voice whilst grabbing her hand and pulling them from the poor mans robes. But this was making Tonks even madder.

'Don't you call me Nymphadora! It's TONKS! And leave me alone! I _need_ to find Remus and I'll do _anything_ for that!' she cried with wildly waving arms, shaking Shacklebolt off.

'A-all right.' the Debliviator said in a trembling voice. 'Just sit still, this may sting a bit.'

Tonks said up straight, ready for what was to come, as the official waved his wand with concentration on his face.

'_M__emini meminisse_!'

Tonks suddenly felt like her head was bursting in a thousand small pieces, all going a different way. Images were swarming around, most off them just slipping past and away, others coming extremely close and overwhelming her. But those were not the right memories, it were all memories of Remus.

…

'_Hello?' _

_Tonks was suddenly snapped from her daydreams as an older man, with short brown hair, opened the door._

'_Remus Lupin, I presume?'_

'_Yes.', said he, with a kind smile, opening the door some further. 'How may I help you?'_

'_I came from Dumbledore, he said to come gather you and Sirius Black for an urgent Order meeting.' she spoke softly._

_Remus Lupin suddenly looked alarmed. 'An Order meeting? But...'_

'_Who's there Moony?' a man called from the living room. _

_Lupins expression became even more alarmed. Tonks thought she heard him mutter 'Idiot.' softly, then he stepped back. 'You'd better come in.'_

…

_Slowly, Tonks opened her eyes. The light hit her, making her head sting even more. She heard hushed voices some further away but couldn't see who was talking from her lying position. 'What the hell happened?' she thought to herself. She suddenly noticed she was in a bed. After she had struggled herself free from her blankets, she finally could take a good look at her surroundings. She was obviously in a hospital room. She heard footsteps approaching and tried to sit up. When that didn't work she tried to speak._

'_Why, in earth's name, am I in a hospital?'_

_Remus appeared within sight. He had a slight smile on his face, but also a very worried look in his eyes. 'Thing went wrong at the Department of Mysteries. You…'_

_But Tonks didn't listen anymore; she was lost in his worried, but beautiful hazel eyes._

…

'_You're grumpy? Why's that?' she looked in his surprised hazel eyes and sighed. How could she be grumpy when he was around? She felt her irritation melt away. _

'_Never mind, just some stupid mount of paperwork to do.'_

_He kept watching her as he sat down at the table. She looked up, feeling awkward under his gaze, but she couldn't resist a smile._

'_What?'_

'Stop it!'

'What?'

The bespectacled Debliviator came into sight again. Tonks was surprised by the sudden transition, for she had been completely lost in her memories.

'You're not focussing on the right memories! We need information about 'You-know-who' if we want to help you find your friend.' the man said sharply.

Tonks felt tired and defeated. How could she be so weak? She had to try and focus on Voldemort for Remus. But the thoughts and worries about him remained swarming around, unable for her to resist.

She felt the panic come up as she tried harder but the concern was overwhelming her.

'I-I can't.' she managed, on the verge of tears.

She felt an arm around her and her Dingerly comfort her.

'It doesn't matter. We'll try some other time, after you rested a bit.'

Tonks tried to smile through the tears that were running down her cheeks now. She couldn't stop them; it felt like she had been holding back an endless river. But actually, she already felt better.

She nodded at her friend, 'Yes, we try again later.'

_I have denied this danger,  
__My world has been so free.  
__Only nothing is certain now,  
__All things are sudden gloomy. _

_The threat on the horizon,  
__Was soon obvious to you.  
__It has lasted me to see it still,  
__What you'd be going through. _

_When it finally did hit me,  
__The thing left me ever bare.  
__My eyes flee the amazement,  
__But still see you always there. _

_Only yet I have to keep hope,  
__Remain evermore an optimist,  
__And this thought I want to keep,  
__I have no other for me to subsist. _

A/N: I know, I'm not a professional poet (nor a writer, that is), but it satisfies _me _enough to remind myself it's for a very sick friend.

I tried to answer quite some questions in this chapter. Please tell me if I've overseen a crucial one or something. Do so too if you see some other stupid mistakes.

The reviews I got so far made me very happy and I'd like to thank those who dropped them.


	16. Gone

Disclaimer: I know, you know, we all now by now that I don't own J.K. Rowling's characters or world that she used for our wonderful Harry Potter books. It still makes me cry though.

_

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Remus was startled by a sudden sound outside his cell. He looked up and saw Feya approach. He laid his head down again, not caring. _

'_What's the matter, my little monthly hearthrug? Don't I get a kiss?'_

_Remus' head snapped up again, that was a joke Tonks once made. How could Feya know about that? But as he looked, the Feya began to change. Her hair become shorter and spiky and…pink!_

'_Nymphadora!' he said, jumping to his feet._

'_I guess not then.' she said sadly, 'You never did care about me.'_

_Remus stepped towards her, 'That's not true, I do…'_

'_Liar!' she cried, moving backwards, her face screwed now. 'If you did, you wouldn't have left me, wouldn't have caused me pain again.' _

_He opened his mouth to object._

'_No! Don't give me that shit about my safety and stuff. I thought we settled that! Just when I thought I could become happy once more, you broke my heart AGAIN!' she took another step back, looking miserable. 'Maybe you do deserve to be here Remus. Maybe I don't care.´_

_And she turned around. ´Nymphadora…Tonks, wait! Please wait. I'll make it up to you, I want you back. Please….wait…´_

_But she was gone._

Remus woke in cold sweat. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up but noticed he couldn't bow his arm. His elbow was red and swollen and he now also became aware of a stinging pain in it. With his good arm he finally lifted himself after a few efforts. He took a closer look to his arm and saw several scratches and a nasty little bite mark.

Normally the rats had left him alone and Remus wondered if he had accidentally rolled over onto one, making the creature 'defend' itself. He sighed, the wounds on his side and his stomach had stopped bleeding but still ached. '_And now this on top of all…' _He felt tired and despondent. It had been long ago since he had some decent sleep though he didn't know how long he had been in his prison. It must have been at least some days.

His situation was hopeless and seemed endless.

Feya was sleeping in her 'room' inside the tunnel system, when the magical alarm went of. She jumped immediately from her bed, which was more like a mat, and made her was to the opening. She tripped over a projecting piece of rock, cursed, but quickly moved on. As she stuck her head out of her cavity she saw people running by to the central area. She went on behind them through the long tunnels and when she arrived, many Death Eaters had gathered already.

Followed by Romulus, the Dark Lord came stalking through the opening in the back. Promptly, he spoke up. 'We were discovered! Spread yourself according to the plan. Don't dare coming back before you hear something by the arranged contact.'

Immediately, it was a chaos. Death Eaters were spreading in all directing and Feya had trouble staying where she was. After most of the men and women had gone and the big room was emptier she quickly joined the small group that had formed around her Master.

'Where is Wormtail!' the Dark Lord thundered. 'It better not be his fault again.' Several people looked around, searching for the small man. 'It doesn't matter, we go now.'

Obeying their Master's order they moved into the nearest tunnel. This was the shortest way to the exit. Feya ran ahead of the little group, she was one of the best to guide the way. She had spent much of her time exploring their hide-out after they had just moved in.

The Dark Lord seemed furious, 'I bet this is that fool's fault again. I bet he took things into his own hand again. He got caught just like last time. That idiot betrayed us…' He kept muttering on lividly as they went through the tunnel.

Feya thought about the last time when Wormtail had been caught. Foolishly, he had been trying to spy the ministry to get in the Masters good book, on his own and unprepared. She had thought he would have learned from the experience of being caught, but apparently this wasn't the case.

The group passed several crossroads, which Feya took without doubt. At one, Romulus suddenly halted her by grabbing her shoulder.

'The Dark Lord wants you to go and help Hayers get Lupin.' he panted.

Feya gave him a short nod and took the right turn. She was running through empty tunnels now; no one bothered to go this way.

Once she got to the warrant complex she already saw Jaston coming towards her, dragging along a motionless Lupin.

'What's wrong with him?' she asked once they had reached her.

Jaston was looking concerned, though Feya didn't know if that was about Lupin or about the whole situation. 'I don't know. When I got here he was shivering madly and wasn't able to stand up. So I decided to lift him up.'

'Okay, come along with me.' she responded.

Back through the tunnels they went. Feya had drawn her wand. She didn't know how fast people would come to the hide-out but she liked to be prepared when they came.

It was a long walk to the exit but after that, they would finally be able to disapparate. She didn't care anymore if Muggles might be watching. She would get out of here and take their valuable prisoner with her.

She stopped dead as she heard footsteps up ahead. She wasn't sure because of the echoes but she believed at least two people were slowly coming down the tunnel. Quickly she shot into a small passageway to her left and dragged the two men behind her along.

'Hurry up, this way!' she whispered to Jaston. He obeyed and quickened his pace, though he was starting to look tired.

She could see Lupin's eyes turn towards the tunnel they had just left. They were glinting attentively. She knew he was probably wondering if the people they had evaded where allies of him. As she walked on beside the others she could see the prisoner's face was pale and sweaty. He looked quite sick. She supposed being locked down in these tunnels wasn't healthy for anyone, even though it only had been for a week.

Finally they came to stairs and a hatch; one of the exits to the streets of London. When she opened it, she saw it was still dark outside, dawn wasn't far away however. In the east, above the building of the harbour, she already could see a lighter fade of the sky. Feya climbed outside the hatch first, after looking carefully around the small, shady alley that it led to. She turned around and motioned Jaston to come along. But then she held him back with her hand as she heard voices.

'…don't know, let's have another look around.'

'I agree, we _have _to find her.'

Footsteps followed and Feya was about to dive back into the hatch but it was too late.

'What the…' Two young men had come around the corner. Immediately they obviously had overseen the situation and raised their wands up high threateningly.

'Who are you? What are you doing here?' the black haired man spoke. 'What is wrong with…' he stopped, looking at Lupin, a surprised look in his eyes. _'He looks like he knows him. Don't know how but we got to get out of here.' _Feya thought.

Feya was about to gesture to Jaston to disapparate, but then she recognised the young man.

And realised she could not let this opportunity slip.

More self-assured than she felt, she laughed haughtily, 'What are _you _doing here Mr. Potter?'

'Death Eaters.' the red haired boy, that was probably that Weasley boy, warned. She saw Harry Potter roll his eyes at the other's comment, despite the awkward situation they were in.

She raised her own wand and saw Jaston do the same after he had put Lupin down on the stair he was still standing on. Potter and Weasley were bracing themselves.

Again, Feya laughed, 'Do you really think two little boys can stop two strong wizards, like us?' The two weren't exactly little boys anymore but Feya was sure she and Jaston could take them. They were one of the few that had climbed up the Dark Lord's organisation for their skill, instead of for wealth or the ability to suck up.

Jaston spoke up softly, 'Oh, I'm sure they can't take us Feya. But we _can_ take you.'

Feya spun around and saw his wand was directed to her.

'_What_?' she yelled incredulously.

* * *

A/N: I know, I'm being a bit mean to Remus, letting him be bitten by a rat on top of it all. But I had to take him out for the alley scene. I hope I didn't drop Harry into the story too sudden. I just wanted it to be as much a surprise as it was for Feya and, undoubtedly too for Remus. 

I'd like to place a small note about Remus' eyes since I've had a question about that. I did mean it for them to be hazel. That's how I always imagined them to be. I did notice others to make them gold or other colours. They may well be right but I don't recall ever reading about it in the books. Or did I miss something? What I also have read about is them turning goldish right before the transformation. That's also a lovely idea. Hmmm, whatever, this note has become a little longer then planed.All thatabout Remus' eyes


	17. Contemplative

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, objects, spells, places, terms etc. that came from the Harry Potter books. I did create, for example, the Debliviator and Dingerly (yeah, like that's something to be terribly proud of) but as for the rest I'm sailing away on the wind of J.K. Rowling's creation ;)

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'Okay, are you ready for it this time?' the Debliviator asked. It was a different one this time, a short young woman with bleached hair. Tonks nodded, pursing her lips. 'Good, we try it _again. _I can spread out the memories for you but I can't steer your focus. So concentrate yourself on the tunnels and try to keep a hold on it.' 

Tonks closed her eyes and pictured the tunnels in her mind. _'Is that where they keep him? Locked away all alone in the darkness? No!' _she mentally reprimanded herself, _'You can't think of him, you have to stay focused on Voldemorts hide-out!'_

As the spell hit her all her thoughts were scattered again. It was still a very awful feeling but Tonks kept focussing. As several more memories of Remus tended to come closer she pushed them away and kept searching for the right memory.

'_It is too hard, I can't do it! I can't find it.'_

'_Yes you can, you have to. For Remus.'_

'_No, don't think about him!'_

She forced herself to quit talking with herself and focus again. It was like she had said; she _had_ to.

Finally, as she had swarmed through a million of memories, she saw a quick flash of a big cave, lightened by torches. She chased after the memory and at last got a good 'hold' of it. The memory looked blurred and flickery, as if it had been damaged, like an old movie. But as she watched, the image slowly became clearer.

…

_She was lying on the floor, whimpering after yet another crucio attack on her body. _

'_Good, let's try this again.' she heard Voldemorts voice come from above her. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. Still, she fought the light-headed feeling when the curse came. She resisted the immensely strong urge to just do what the voice in her head said. When the cave came sharply back in sight, Voldemort looked quite annoyed,_

_He narrowed his eyes, 'And again…'_

There was a short flash and the memory had jolted to another scene. They were still in the same room but Voldemort was looking happy now and she… she was kneeling before him.

'…_you understand?' Tonks nodded. 'All right, now go and do as I have told you.' _

_Tonks moved away from the 'Master' and out of the room. _As she moved through the endless tunnels the image of the memory moved faster. She was eager to find out about the location of the hide-out and hoped she could determine it from this memory.

_Finally the tunnel ended in some kind of unused workshop, with a dusty bench and some tools in the middle of it. On the opposite was a large door. She walked towards it, slowly opened it and stepped outside. _Tonks tried to catch some clue of where she was, a sign with a name on it or something. But she couldn't control the Tonks of her memory and couldn't direct her view to anything else but what she remembered. Luckily, _she looked around to see if no Muggles were nearby, she couldn't afford to draw any attention to this place. Magical people would hear about and start looking around. Then she quickly disaparated._

And the memory was past.

As the small room came into sight again she saw the worried faces of Dingerly and Schacklebolt. The Debliviator nodded approvingly at her, 'Now, did you see anything useful?' the woman asked.

Tonks focused on the last images, frowning. 'There was a small street, with several doors on both sides.'

'Well that can be anywhere.' Dingerly spoke. Schacklebolt gave him an annoyed look, the young Auror winced under the peering glare. 'S-sorry, go on.'

'It looked like some shabby neighbourhood, but I'm not sure if it was a housing area, it may also be an industrial part of the city.' She hesitated, 'As a matter of fact, I think it was, it seemed to be close to the ports. I had a view on some docks some further away.'

'Okay, the harbour, but of what city?' Schacklebolt pondered. 'It may be everywhere, we're not even sure if it is somewhere in England! Don't you have anything else?'

'I-I wasn't able to look around.' Tonks started to panic again, how were they ever going to find out the location?

'Do you need a way to look around in memories?' the Debliviator asked. Tonks looked up hopefully.

'Do you know a way?'

'A pensive.' The other woman simply stated.

Kingsley slapped his head, 'Off course! We have plenty of those in the ministry.' He turned to Dingerly, 'You go get one boy.'

'Yes sir!' Dingerly mockingly saluted, then hurried away under Kingley's sharp glare.

It took the young Auror several minutes to fetch a pensive. Tonks was shifting in her seat impatiently. Kingsley was pacing up and down the Debliviator's office, murmuring something. The Debliviator just sat there, in her large chair, staring at Tonks, making the latter feel even more uncomfortable.

Finally, or actually it _was_ pretty quick, Dingerly came back, holding the large stone basket. He put it down on the desk between them with a loud _thump_.

'Do you know how to do this?' the Debliviator asked. Tonks just shook her head.

The short official suddenly leaned forwards, stretching out a wand that hadn't been in her hand a moment before. Tonks backed away. The Debliviator looked vaguely surprised, then smiled serenely, 'Let me do it for you.'

Tonks understood what the woman had meant to do and let her place the wand against her head. With a strange, slippery feeling the memories was removed was sticking to the wand. The Debliviator put it into the pensive and whirled the substance around with her wand. 'The pensive can be used for a sharper look on memories that are normally bound to the limitations of our own mind.' she said to no one in particular. 'One might use it to take some distance from the event concerned, but also…' She gave it another swirl, 'to put forward details that would have slipped our attention otherwise.' An image of a wall could now be seen in the pensive, with a sign on it.

'Atrost Alley.' the Debliviator read out loud, with a slight smile. When she looked up, the others were already gone.

* * *

A/N: Long working day today, my brain may have been too fussed to type down grammatical correct sentences, or words. I don't trust the spelling corrector either. I don't even know if spelling corrector is the right term. Well, enough nonsense. 

I used the pensive to solve the problem of my non-existent knowledge of London. I hope J.K. Rowling will forgive me for my free interpretation of the way a pensive can work :-P

Thanks to the reviewers. My eternal gratefulness, as always.


	18. The Rat and the Witch

Disclaimer: The last time I checked I didn't own the world and characters of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter.

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Remus was in a very uncomfortable position. He was lying on some stone stairs, put down there unceremoniously by Jaston. He felt cold shivers go down his spine but at the same time he was hot. The rat bite hadn't done him any good…

He had been very surprised to see Harry and Ron here and wondered how they had discovered the location. The other surprise had been Jaston's sudden turn. It seemed that Feya was just as shocked by this as him. But she wasn't defeated yet. Remus knew that she was a very powerful witch from the times they had fought side by side. And now, he thought, her powers would have been extended more with the addition of Dark Magic.

Feya was still standing there, her wand high, a spell on her lips. She seemed a little confused and Jaston took advantage of that. He shot the first spell.

'_Stupefy_!'

'_Protego_!' Feya immediately defended herself.

Harry joined the battle, '_Expeliarmus_!'

Again the spell was deflected. Jaston then tried something more unusual.

'_Rictusempra_!'

But it was no good; Feya kept shielding herself faster than the other two could cast attacks. Meanwhile Ron had kneeled down next to Remus. He seemed confident that Harry could deal with it.

'Are you all right sir?' he asked. Absent-minded, Remus nodded, he kept following the fight. Feya had used a Stinging Hex on Jaston, taking him down temporarily and was now aiming for Harry, putting him in a state of defence. But suddenly he made a gesture with his wand that seemed to surprise Feya. Without a word, he made the Death Eater's wand fly into his own hands. He then used an _incarcerous _on her, tying her up effectively.

Remus was surprised that Harry seemed to master a silent spell so well. He had heard this form of casting had caused the boy quite some trouble at Hogwarts. Ron jumped up excitedly.

'You did it! Great, now we can go find Hermione and that filthy rat!'

Remus tried to sit up a bit straighter but had to give up as he was shaking so badly now, he couldn't control his movements. 'What happened to Hermione?' he asked concerned.

Ron opened his mouth to answer but he was interrupted by a moaning Jaston. 'Can anyone please make it stop?'

'Oh, right…' Harry quickly moved to the poor man, who was rolling over the ground, still under the nasty Stinging Hex. '_Finite Incantatem_!'

Jaston was breathing heavily and shot a dark glare to Feya. She was lying close to him on the hard stones and shot him an evenly dark glare back.

'As I was going to say,' Ron tried again while Jaston picked himself off the street, 'Hermione is taken.'

'_What_? How? By who?' Remus asked, started.

'We were going to some address here in London,' Ron began. Yet again he was cut short, by Harry this time.

'Wait, first we have to take care of things. You can tell the story on the way.' He kneeled down next to Remus. 'Is there anything we can do to relieve your injuries?'

Remus tried to shrug but it hurt too much, 'I don't know, they could use some cleaning but I'm not sure if anyone of you knows the right spell.'

Jaston came closer, 'I know the _scourgify _spellof course, but that's not really a good spell to clean open wounds.'

'Try it anyway.' Remus decided.

Jaston looked doubtful but lifted his wand anyway. When the spell was used on his wounds, Remus bit on his lip to prevent himself from shouting. He _did _feel some cleaner afterwards however.

'Okay, but you're still infected by inflammation of the wound. I definitely can't do anything about that.'

The two others were looking at the entrance longingly, they were desperate to go. Harry gave Remus a short, apologising look. 'I'm sorry, we have to leave you here with Feya, you're too weak to come with.'

'_No_!' Remus said sharply. He didn't want to let the two men go alone with Jaston. _'I still don't trust my old friend after him being a betrayer twice.' _he thought mournful. Yet, he turned to Jaston when he asked: 'Do you know an energising spell?'

Jaston nodded and immediately lifted his wand again, '_Navitas_!'

Remus found himself able to stop shaking and stand up, but he knew it was only for a short period of time, 'Okay, let's go!'

'Wait! What about her?' Harry asked, gesturing to Feya.

'Don't worry,' Jaston said, he lifted Feya up and put her hanging over his shoulder. 'I can take her, she isn't very heavy.' he continued with a big smile. 'Now let's do as Lupin here told us and go.'

The four men walked towards the hatch and disappeared through it. As they walked deeper into the tunnels, Remus hoped there wouldn't still be any Death Eaters around. He had heard the alarm go off but didn't know anything about an escape plan that might have set in.

'So, what exactly are we looking for?' he asked Harry, who was walking next to him.

'Hermione.' Ron answered instead, 'And Wormtail.'

Remus' head snapped up, '_Wormtail_?' he asked surprised.

'Yeah, as I was going to tell you, we were supposed to get information about Voldemort's hide-out at an address in London.' Ron scratched his head, 'It seemed safe, we were with four and Professor McGonagall promised to back us up.'

Again, Remus was surprised, 'Minerva knew of your activities? She never told _me_ anything.'

Harry answered; 'I guess that was the problem. We got the owl from her, with the tip-off about the address. But I guess it wasn't actually her. When we got there, Wormtail managed to surprise us with a _Tarantallegra _and take Hermione. As soon as it worked of we went after him, but I suppose he meant us to anyway.'

Suddenly, Feya spoke from the shoulder of Jaston. 'That idiot probably wanted you to beard the lion in his den. But he didn't think of the alarm that would set in evacuation as soon as the location was betrayed, which he did by taking you towards it on purpose.' the woman spat.

'Calm down Feya dear.' Jaston said, slapping her on the butt 'soothingly'.

Feya just growled at him in response.

Harry stopped where a tunnel branched off from the one they were walking. 'Okay, so what are we going to do? Split up?'

'No, I don't think that's a good idea.' Remus answered, 'We don't know what to expect. Peter might have run into some other Death Eater and ruin our prevalence.'

Jaston walked on, 'Follow me, I think he's going to the tower.'

The others went after him. 'Why is he going to the tower?' Harry asked.

'Because he wants to deliver his little catch to the master.' When he saw the alarmed faces, Jaston continued; 'Don't worry, the Dark Lord won't be there… I hope.'

The small group hurried faster through the tunnels, taking many turns on their long way.

'Who made these bloody tunnels anyway?' Ron panted.

'Monks.' Jaston answered. 'The church used to belong to some religious pure-blood fanatics. But in the 17th century they're enemies, those who wanted to allow half-bloods, managed to dislodge them.' His face gravened as he kept walking on, 'But there had been a spell on the church's ground to make it unable for Muggle-borns or half-bloods to enter it. To taunt the old owners, the monks decided to let those practise their religion _underneath _it.'

They finally came to the bottom of a spiral staircase.

'Careful, the lowest steps are quite slippery.' Jaston warned.

They started to climb the stairs. It went on and on for an eternity, they were all panting heavily and still couldn't see the end. After a while Jaston had to stop for a short break as he had to take Feya all the way up too, they didn't dare to leave her behind. Remus wanted to move on though, he felt his energy fade away, but knew a rest wouldn't help. They just needed to hurry on, before the spell wore off.

As they waited Remus suddenly remembered something. He turned to Ron, 'Back in the tunnels you said you were with four when you went to the address at London.

'Yeah…' Ron started to answer, but then they all heard a loud scream come from above. They all stood there, stiffened for a moment. Then Harry started running up the stairs, closely followed by Remus and Ron.

* * *

A/N: I hope this chapter is better than the last. I'm a bit distracted lately but still talking my mind off things with the writing. Please forgive me ;)

Thanks to those who reviewed, tell me what you thought of this one and don't hesitate to criticise.


	19. A Sneeze can be very dangerous

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or world of the Harry Potter series, but you already knew that if you read this story so far.

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It was still dark and quiet in London. Near the harbor the first daily activity had started but it hadn't spread to the rest of the city yet. The areas around were deserted, so was Altrost Alley. The only living being was a skinny brown cat that was ravaging through the trashcans. Suddenly it lifted its head, as if it sensed something. A second later, three loud _cracks _echoed through the alley. The poor brown creature fell from his trashcan in shock and ran away as fast as his paws could carry him.

'Is this the right place?' a deep man's voice could be heard.

'Yes, it looks very much like it.' a woman answered.

Three people stepped forwards in the light. The young, pink-haired woman seemed to be looking for something as she spun around. She then pointed out a door. 'I believe it was that door.' she said, pointing to a big door with a heavy lock hanging on it. They tried it and to their surprise the lock fell off and the door opened.

'Shouldn't we wait for the reinforcements.' the second man, Dingerly, asked.

'Nah,' the first spoke, 'it will take the ministry ages before they gather enough people and get here.'

'Tonks, what do you think.' Dingerly asked their fellow Auror with the vivid hair.

But Tonks didn't seem to listen. She was looking longingly into the dark depths behind the open doorway.

'Well, I think that's an obvious answer.' Kingsley Shacklebolt answered.

So, the three of them went into the dark workshop. As far as Tonks could see, it resembled her memory precisely. But she couldn't see much as it was too dark.

'I can't see a bloody thing.' Dingerly expressed her thoughts.

Kingsley sighed, '_Lumos_!'

Now they were bathing in the light they finally could see where they were going and distinguished a big hole in the concrete wall on their opposite.

'Okay, let's go.' Tonks decided confidently. She was sure she wanted to do this, she needed to save Remus. A small voice inside her head whispered scary thoughts, that Remus might already be dead or that she would fail in her mission to rescue him. But a much louder voice didn't want to give up hope and assured her that all was going to be all right.

Kingsley went after her without hesitating but Dingerly lingered a bit longer. He had a worried look on his face as he watched them go into the tunnel but quickly went after them as the light of Kingsley's wand disappeared around the corner. He caught up with them at the next corner and they walked on in silence, with only the sound of their footsteps echoing from the earthen walls.

Tonks tried to remember the way as good as possible from the images of her memory. She soon realized that it was hopeless though. At the second division of tunnels she had to stop.

'What way?' she mused out loud. They all stood there as she racked her brains over the question. Then, a distant scream sounded through the tunnels. The three of them stiffened, giving each other worried looks as the scream echoed away. Tonks felt her confidence fade away a little. But then she pulled herself together again and went into the left tunnel, straight to where the sound had come from. After a few seconds, she heard the others follow her.

'_For Remus.' _she thought.

Unfortunately they soon were lost again. Tonks had tried to go as straight as possible, taking a left and a right in turn, but soon realized they were getting nowhere. She then tried going left a couple of times but that only resulted in walking in circles. They walked on like that for half an hour and Tonks was getting more and more desperate by the minute. She could see Dingerly lose his original fear over their mission. He was actually starting to appear bored. She gave him an annoyed look, then bumped into Shacklebolt, who suddenly stood still.

'Kingsley, wha…' she started, but he hushed her.

'Don't you hear it?' he asked at her questioning look.

Tonks listened intently and suddenly heard it too, the sound of footsteps and muffled voices.

'Wait here, I'm going to check it out.' she whispered, motioning for the two others to stay behind. Before either one could protest, she had disappeared into the tunnel where the sounds came from.

She tried to move as silently as possible but apparently not silent enough; the voices had suddenly stopped, as had the footsteps. Tonks also stood still, listening if there might be any other sound, meanwhile not daring to move. She silently cursed herself for being so terrible at sneaking around. The deep silence lingered on for a minute, then she was almost deafened by a loud noise. Back in the tunnel she came from she heard an irritated Kingsley mumble something to Dingerly, who sniffed an offended excuse.

Tonks was also irritated, she quickly went on and carefully looked into the tunnel where the unidentified group of people had been, but they were gone. _'Who could it have been? Friend or foe?' _she sarcastically thought. It was hopeless to try to find out where the people had gone off to so she went back to the two men.

'Did you _have_ to sneeze so loudly?' she asked Dingerly, who grinned at her sheepishly.

Kingsley rolled his eyes and turned to Tonks, 'Have you seen anyone?'

She shook her head, 'No one.'

Although the group of people hadn't left behind any trace, Tonks and Kingsley decided to try and go after them anyway. If they managed, at least it would probably lead them _some_where. It was better than roaming around the tunnels without a clue.

Often, the three of them stopped to try and hear something. They tried to look around for any clue about the right route. But it was just as hopeless as before. There was nothing to follow and soon they were just as lost.

They had taken another turn to the left - they had tried taking the biggest tunnels, hoping that it might mean something – and where walking down another long tunnel when Tonks bumped into somebody once more. She thought it was Kingsley again but realized he was behind her as he collided with her in turn. He began to swear but suddenly fell silent as the three of them saw a fourth person scramble to his feet. He had been knocked over by Tonks and was now giving them a scheming look. Then he quickly turned around and started to run.

Tonks tried to run after him, wondering what was going on but tripped over a loose stone. She felt Kingsley's feet contact her and another loud thump, again he was swearing. Dingerly jumped over the two of them and pursued the man around the corner.

After a while, when they had finally untangled themselves and each other, he came back, breathing heavily. 'I-I lost him at one of the crossroads.' he explained.

Kingsley looked concerned, 'I bet that was a Death-Eater, though he wasn't wearing any mask.' The tall man seemed very angry with himself for tripping over Tonks and losing his target.

Dingerly didn't make things better, 'And I bet he went to get help.'

Tonks sighed; she was in big trouble…_again_.

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A/N: I always try improving my story by using the comments.

Thanks for those who did review.

I meant to update this sooner but I've been having troubles uploading the document, hope it stays better after this cause it's really annoying.


	20. Bells and the Result of a Sneeze

Disclaimer: What would I do if I owned the 'Harry Potter' books? I would call it 'Remus Lupin' to start with. But they're still called 'Harry Potter', so it's obvious I don't own them.

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Stumbling, the three men were climbing the tower. The high-pitched scream was still ringing in their ears, making them hurry as much as possible. All three were worried that it might have been uttered by a certain girl they knew, a girl they had been looking for before the scream had reached their ears. Earlier, the stairs had seemed long, but now it seemed to go on endlessly.

´I…wish that…terrible noise….would… stop.´ Ron panted after a while.

Harry gave him an odd look over his shoulder. ´What noise?' he wondered.

Ron frowned back at him but continued running. 'That…bell. Don't you hear it...?'

A quick glance towards Remus told Harry he too didn't understand what Ron was talking about. Then he stumbled dangerously and he quickly shifted his focus back to the climbing of the stairs.

Finally and sudden the steps ended their way up. Harry was the first to reach the top. He whirled round to see what way they had to go but realized there was only one portal. Through it, he could see several huge copper bells. He waited impatiently for Ron and Remus, for he knew it wasn't smart to go on alone and burst into whatever was going on there. It took especially their former professor long to catch up with them. He was pale and sweaty when he finally arrived but immediately motioned for them to move on.

As they entered the big chamber they firmly grabbed their wands, tense and ready for any surprises. And a surprise they got; at the foot of one of the largest bells in the room they saw two figures. One was lying on the ground, firmly bound, and one was standing next to it, looking at them with an expression of irritation.

'What took you so long? I had to go and take him out all by myself.' Hermione said angrily.

'Who was screaming?' Ron asked breathlessly instead of answering her question.

'_He _did.' she responded, gesturing to the bound man on the ground with a look of disgust on her face. 'All I did was grabbing his wand from him and use a _levicorpus _on him.' A slight smile now crossed her face as she held up two wands, her own and that of Wormtail who was now lying on the floor, uttering whining moans.

The others exchanged a disbelieving look. 'The scream came from Wormtail? I thought that was a _girl_!' Ron asked slightly aghast, 'I thought it was you.' he added softly, looking at Hermione, who answered his look with a small grin.

'Are you all right Hermione?' Remus asked as he stepped forward apprehensively.

'Yes, are _you_?' she responded, eyeing him evenly concerned.

Remus was feeling worse again and realized he looked it, but this was neither the time nor the place to discus that. 'I'm fine, but we'd better get out of here. There's nothing to linger about anymore.'

'But I need to find Voldemort!' Harry retorted, suddenly coming out aggressively.

Remus forced himself to stay calm, 'It's more Voldemort will find you now. And he's been warned so he won't be alone.'

The boy seemed to consider this, then he nodded reluctantly. Just as they made for the exit, Jaston came bursting in. 'What's taking you so long? We have to get out of here! We're right in the middle of the enemy's camp and I don't know about you guys but I'm not considering staying over for a pyjama-party.'

Remus gave him an amused look, 'What are you talking about? It is far from being nightfall yet.'

Jaston just rolled his eyes at this and turned around to leave. Ron moved after him but took one more look around and halted.

'Wait! What about that ringing?'

Hermione looked at him, stunned. 'What do you mean? What ringing?'

'Those bells, one of them rang, I swear it did.' the red-haired boy answered impatiently.

'Well… I actually _did _flung Wormtail at that big bell but I didn't hear any ringing. I figured it was broken and didn't have a cling or something.' Hermione explained.

Without turning back, Jaston made an impatient gesture. 'Only pure-bloods can hear those bells.' he told them. 'Now can we please leave?'

'Wait…' this time it was Remus to stop them. 'You also told us only pure-bloods could enter the church right?' Jaston nodded. 'And this tower is part of the church right?' Another nod. 'Then how are we allowed to enter? …Or Voldemort for that matter?' Remus added after consideration.

'Do you really think Voldemort wouldn't be able to lift the enchantment? He managed to remove it, even as it's been made by very powerful Ancient Wizards.' Jaston sighed, 'Is it really important to speak about this all here and now?'

Remus suddenly felt stupid for his fervent curiosity and agreed for them to leave.

As the group reached Feya lying halfway Remus noticed she was now not only bound, but also gagged.

'She was driving me insane.' Jaston answered the unspoken question.

Down the stairs they went again, they had started to become a large group by now. Harry and Ron went up ahead, followed by Hermione who directed a bound Wormtail through the air with her wand – which reminded Remus an awfully lot of the situation he had been not too long ago – and by Jaston who was carrying a furious looking Feya. Remus closed the line and tried to keep up with the others. He found it increasingly difficult to put one foot in front of the other as the energy drained of further and further. A few times he stumbled and almost got them all rolling down the stairs. He also was reminded of his wounds every now and then since he regularly felt a sharp jolt of pain. _'I we'll get out of here and end all this nonsense very soon.' _

The tunnels were starting to look very familiar to Remus as he went into them once more, but he was far from knowing the way. Luckily, Jaston did. As they moved on, Hermione and Ron where muttering concerned words to each other, Remus saw the red-haired boy throw a suspicious look to Jaston, who was explaining some more about the tunnels to Harry.

But through the chattering, Remus' sharpened hearing could still distinguish the slow, quiet footsteps that were approaching from the left as they passed a tunnel. He hushed the others and motioned for them to stand still. They were all holding their breaths as the silence lingered. The footsteps had stopped and their owner seemed to be waiting for them to continue. The others were giving Remus questioning looks; they didn't know what he had stopped them about.

Suddenly a thundering noise echoed through the tunnels and they all jumped three feet high. Remus took the lead and quickly ran past them and into one of the many split-offs. There, out of sight, he stood still again and was almost ran over by the rest of the group. They listened to what happened back in the tunnel and heard footsteps approach. The steps then halted for a moment and finally distanced themselves again as the person turned back.

Quickly, before someone could come back to check out some better, they went on. But after a while, Jaston suddenly stopped.

'Er…right, I think we went a wrong turn back there.' he slowly spoke, 'Normally I would have gone the opposite tunnel but we had to get out of there as soon as possible.'

'What are you saying? Are we lost?' Hermione asked him.

'I'm not sure, I don't really recognize this place…' his voice trailed away.

'Oh great! We can really use this. Being lost in the middle of the enemy's with two of his Death-Eaters and one who might still turn out to be one.' Ron blurted out. No one really seemed to pay any attention to him except for Jaston, who gave him an offended look.

'What should we do? Just try a tunnel and hope it works out okay?' Remus asked the man, who turned back to him at being addressed.

'I don't give you much of a chance on that one. We'd better just go back.'

So they did, it was quite a long way back. Ron was sighing and muttering in an annoyed tone, complaining about the situation 'Jaston had gotten them into', but he was silenced by a piercing look from Hermione.

'_I bet we're not the first one to get lost in this labyrinth.' _Remus mused. Little he knew how true that was.

They finally got back to where they had hid themselves from the unknown person. Luckily, no one was to be seen. Jaston went ahead into the correct tunnel but stopped as a skinny brown cat suddenly passed them in the opposite direction.

'What is that doing all the way down here?' he muttered in surprise and threw a questioning towards Remus. The other man didn't answer; he was looking in the direction in which the creature had disappeared.

'I wonder where it is going so purposefully.' he whispered.

'What? You want to follow a stray cat?' Jaston wondered, even more confused.

Then, Remus suddenly ran away, after the cat.

'Wait, Remus! You can't! We should get out of here!'

But the werewolf had already run away, leaving them all behind. They just stood there, throwing each other shocked looks.

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A/N: It was quite a busy weekend with much working and homework to do. Hope you'll forgive me for not updating sooner. But maybe I'll go to updating every Tuesday so it'll get more regular. But then again, this story is starting to get to a close.

Thanks once more for the reviews!


	21. The Cat, the Auror and the Ending

Disclaimer: For the _last _time, no! I _don't _own Harry Potter and his friends, enemies, pets, surroundings etc. They all belong to the great J.K. Rowling! Oh and also, I don't own Sister Hazel's lyrics.

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This time it was Tonks who stopped dead. The tunnel they came from ended in a big room with many other openings in it. She did a few more steps forwards, then sank down with a sigh of despair.

'Now what do we do?' she asked, rubbing her temples. 'This place is even bigger than I first thought.'

Dingerly dropped himself next to her on the hard floor. 'Ouch, my feet hurt.' he complained.

Only Kingsley stayed where he was. 'I don't think we should linger in this hall, too many ways to approach and surprise us.' He gave Dingerly in particular an irritated look.

'So, what are you saying? Should we go back or try one of the tunnels?' Tonks asked him.

He made to answer but was cut off when several people bumped into him, from behind.

Tonks started to wonder if there was a curse on this place, making people bump into each other all the time, but then realized it was an idiotic thought and more urgent matter were at hand. Like the fact that a group of Deatheaters just bustled into the hall. Kingsley scrambled up, looking shocked as the ten men and women surrounded them and immediately started a firing of spells.

Dingerly reacted the fastest; he had always been hailed for his quick reflexes. Silently, he put up a quick shield, bouncing of several spells, of which one hit a Deatheater. This woke Tonks and Kingsley from their shock and they started firing spells back.

As she tossed them spell after spell, Tonks recognized one of the Deatheaters as the one they had bumped into. _'I guess Dingerly was right.'_

The Deatheaters outnumbered them three to one, yet it seemed at first as they were winning. Soon they had taken down four others of the remaining nine. Then, Dingerly was hit by a nasty _Sectumsempra _and Tonks saw Kingsley being cornered by three of the Deatheaters. The one that had taken down Dingerly joined the other one Tonks was fighting and she was too driven in the defense. She felt herself go stiff by a well-placed _stupefy _and watched Kingsley undergo the same fate from the dusty ground she now found herself lying on.

The Deatheaters didn't hesitate and walked towards her.

'Let's take you back to the Master.' one, a particularly nasty looking man with long, dusty-red hair, said as he lifted her over his shoulder.

'_Oh perfect.' _was all she could think. The five people started walking to a tunnel, leaving their fallen companions behind. They were dragging their prisoners with them, but before they reached the entrance, a soft _meow _could be heard. Tonks could see a brown cat approaching from an opposite tunnel before her sight was taken from it when the Deatheater turned around. The others had turned around too and seemed quite surprised.

One of the women raised her eyebrows, 'Never mind, I bet it's just lost. Let's go.'

'Well it sure seems to know where the exit is,' the Deatheater carrying Tonks answered as he turned back. Tonks could just catch a glimpse of the cat heading into the same tunnel the Deatheaters were.

However, soon she saw a whole different sight that made her almost gasp out loud; a man came running from the tunnel behind her and, with a large jolt in her stomach, Tonks recognized Remus. A few seconds later, more people entered through the tunnel.

It didn't took the Deatheaters long to recover from their surprise and soon curses were flying again. From her limited point of view, Tonks couldn't follow much of what was going on. Every now and then, a person, Deatheater or ally, passed by, leaving her either worried or hopeful.

Suddenly the noise of fighting died away, all Tonks could now hear was the soft moaning of Dingerly right next to her. Scared, she awaited what would happen. _'Who has won? What are they waiting for?' _

The shuffling of footsteps sounded very close to her head. Then, all of a sudden, the face of a man appeared right in front of her, a face she didn't recognize. She would have screamed if she would have been able to.

'Are you okay?' the face spoke. Then, the man seemed to realize what was going on and lifted the stupefying spell off her.

Tonks immediately sat up and looked around for Remus. She saw him a few feet away, looking at her awkwardly.

Tonks also noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione and was very surprised to see them there. Before she could make a comment about it though, she saw Remus come towards her and the strange man who had freed her.

'Are you okay?' he asked concerned as he stretched out his hand to help her stand.

'Who are you?' Tonks asked the man instead as she remained seated.

'I'm Jaston.' When Tonks kept staring at him he continued, 'Remus and I…worked together a couple of years ago.'

'Yeah, he and I used to be good friends before we lost sight of each other.' Remus stated matter-of-factly.

Tonks frowned a bit at his curtness. 'Where did you work?' she asked them curiously.

She saw the two of them hesitating, throwing each other indefinable looks. 'We… Some government project, right after the first war. There were some more werewolves and other humans involved,' Remus decided. 'But I can't tell you much more.'

Tonks nodded in understanding. They were all silent for a while, lost in thoughts. Then Remus reached out his hand to her again and lifted her up after she took it. She smiled at him but he didn't meet her eyes. When he tried to pull back his hand she kept holding on. Finally he looked up. 'Can we talk?' she asked him.

'Sure.' he responded, taking her apart from the rest.

'Remus…'she started.

'I'm sorry.' he suddenly interrupted her, eyeing her intently. 'I'm sorry about everything. I was a fool, I realize that now.'

'Re…'

'No wait, let me finish.' he broke her off again. 'Romulus… he did his _evil _when he was human. It made me realize that people don't need to be a werewolf to do bad things. Of course I have known that long ago, but this rubbed it under my nose. You are threatened by such treachery from humans too and I don't want to make you… more vulnerable to that. Call it an urge to protect you.' A slight smile crossed his face, then faded away. 'But I know now it is also love. …I really hope you could give me just another chance.' he concluded.

It was silence for a moment as Remus seemed to await her answer tensely.

'So what if you're a bit more cranky every once a month? So am I.' Tonks smiled. Then she became more serious. 'You know, my life would mean more if I could spend it with you. Even if that would make that, somehow, shorter. Why life a long Lupinless life if it is a terribly lonely one? Dangerous as you might be, it would hurt me so much if you left me again I don't think I would even survive.' She raised a finger as he started to object, 'That's why you must promise me… even swear it to me, to never walk away like that again'

Remus didn't hesitate anymore, 'Dear Nymphadora, I _swear _I won't ever do that to you again. I won't just walk away anymore, I promise.'

She smirked, 'You'd better not, or _I'll _get dangerous. Now let's get you fixed up.'

**Just when the sky runs out of rain  
Just when the sun runs out of light  
Just when the earth is ill with pain  
Just when your body is out of fight  
I will be there  
I will be the smallest piece in everything  
And I would give my life before I break this promise to you**

**(fragment from: Sister Hazel – Sword and Shield)**

END

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A/N: I suddenly realized the story had to end here. Dragging it on wouldn't improve it and I would just be having you waiting for some more stretched chapters. My other problem is chronic time shortage. I really have to apologize about the rather lame ending but I felt like I had to give you _something_.

Questions about Jaston and co. may be answered in an other story, in another dimension, where I _do _have time and more inspiration :-P Other questions, just ask. Also feel free to point out faults and criticize in all other possible ways.

1.000.000 times sorry ;)

Bye,

Leonew


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